A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE              Contact:  David W. Thomas (202) 401-1579    July 18, 1994                            Kerri Morgan (in Boston)                                       1-800-SKY-PAGE (PIN #570-9039)

RILEY, REICH ANNOUNCE SCHOOL-TO-WORK GRANTS

BOSTON, July 18 -- Education Secretary Richard W. Riley and Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich today announced that the Clinton Administration will award $43 million in grants to eight states to implement systems that move young people from school to work.

The awards are made under the new School-to-Work Opportunities Act, signed into law by President Clinton May 4. Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Wisconsin will receive grants, ranging from $2 to $10 million.

The announcement of first-year implementation grants to states was made at NYNEX, a school-to-work partner of Project ProTech, by the two cabinet secretaries and U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., chair of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee.

"Today's awards launch the president's School-to-Work Opportunities initiative," Riley said. "These states are the pioneers in a nationwide movement to better prepare young people for college and careers."

"There should not be a barrier between education and work," Reich said. "These grants provide needed resources to states to enable them to serve as catalysts bringing business and educators together."

School-to-Work, jointly administered by the Departments of Education and Labor, establishes a national framework that enables partnerships involving educators, employers, parents, community-based organizations and others to prepare students to meet labor market demands arising from an increasingly competitive global economy. The grants will help the states design education systems that better equip students with the knowledge and skills required for success in today's technologically advanced workplace.

The new law complements the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, signed by President Clinton March 31, which supports state and community efforts to help all students achieve to high standards.

Calling the five-year awards "venture capital," Riley said the new funds follow development grants that went to all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico in January.

Evaluation criteria for state grant recipients included: comprehensive school-to-work systems emphasizing commitment to high standards, instruction that integrates work and school; effective linkages between secondary and postsecondary schools; the use of workplace mentoring and instruction; and work-based learning.

Other selection criteria included: the collaboration and involvement of key partners; the state's commitment of resources; strategies for involving all students, including out-of-school youth; and the effectiveness of the state's management plan.

School-to-work grants for local partnerships will be awarded in coming weeks. In addition, there is an application deadline of August 23 for urban and rural opportunities grants targeting high poverty areas. All states are expected to receive implementation grants by 1998.

Project ProTech is managed by the Boston Private Industry Council in partnership with four high schools, eight health care institutions and seven financial services companies. NYNEX represents Project ProTech's expansion into the communications industry.