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

   FOR RELEASE                     Contact:  Melinda Kitchell Malico    July 20, 1995                                      (202) 401-1008

13 States Receive First 2nd Year Goals 2000 Funds; Riley Says Education Improvement "Critical To Nation's Future

This week, the first thirteen states received federal Goals 2000 support, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley announced today.

Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Washington are the first states to receive a second year of funding to support community efforts to improve schools, Riley said.

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, passed by Congress last year with bipartisan support, helps states and communities advance their own school improvement efforts, based on the results of local decision making. Riley said Goals 2000 offers unprecedented flexibility and is being administered without regulations.

The second year of support -- $362 million for state and local grants in fiscal year 1995 -- will help states and communities implement school improvement plans to raise student academic achievement, involve parents in schools, bring technology into the classroom, upgrade teacher professional development, and create partnerships with business and community groups. States that submit a school improvement plan developed with input from parents, educators, community members and the private sector, as well as states that show substantial progress toward that end, are eligible for second-year funding.

However, Riley said future funds for continued school improvement are in jeopardy. While President Clinton has requested $750 million for Goals 2000 in fiscal year 1996, the House Appropriations Labor, HHS and Education Subcommittee has voted to eliminate all funds for the education improvement initiative as part of $4 billion in cuts to education. The full House Appropriations Committee is voting on the measure today.

"Goals 2000 makes a vital contribution to school improvement," Riley said. "We must not abandon the children, teachers, schools and communities that have worked so hard to make schools better.

"Improving teaching and learning is critical to the nation's future. It is essential that we continue to assist states and communities as they develop and adopt challenging academic standards that will guide the education of students into the next century."

Ninety percent of the new funds will go directly from the state to local school districts.

Forty-eight states and nine territories received almost $85 million in first-year Goals 2000 support.