U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded $16.1 billion in grants to states and local school districts this fall to strengthen educational programs for America's children and adults.

North Carolina received $396.8 million in federal support for its students.

The funds will be used for a variety of programs, including efforts to boost the performance of disadvantaged students; promote innovative educational strategies; help our special needs students; strengthen students' reading skills; offer vocational programs; and keep our students and teachers safe.

"Schools across America are working to meet President Bush's call to leave no child behind," Secretary Paige said. "Educating America's students is primarily a state and local issue, but the department is working to support the needs of North Carolina's disadvantaged students without unnecessary federal red tape."

Following are among the highlights of the grant award programs for North Carolina:

• Title I grants, the largest federal education activity for pre-K through grade 12, helps districts close the achievement gap between high- and low-poverty schools by targeting resources based on the number of children in poverty. Even Start, a Title I component, supports local family literacy projects that integrate early childhood education, adult literacy or basic education, as well as parenting education for families. $141.2 million.
• Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities funds efforts to make schools safer, foster children's development, and prevent aggressive and violent behavior and drug and alcohol use among youth. $7.7 million.
• Innovative Education Strategies enable state and local education agencies to implement promising education reform programs. For instance, the program supports charter schools -- public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. Similarly, magnet schools bring together diverse groups of children, offering public school choice and creating novel educational programs for students. $7.5 million.
• Special Education-Grants to States/Part B assist states in providing a free and appropriate education to the more than 6.3 million children with disabilities nationally, as guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. $137.6 million.
• TRIO programs help motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to post-baccalaureate education. $737,592.
• Vocational Education-Basic Grants to States help provide vocational-technical education programs and services to youth and adults. $21.4 million.
• Community Technology Centers promote the development of model programs that demonstrate the educational effectiveness of technology in urban and rural areas and economically distressed communities. $200,000.

All told, in the 2001 fiscal year, the Department of Education invested $30 billion in grants to states and local school districts to help strengthen their programs and improve student performance.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For details on the individual programs, visit the department's Guide to Education Programs at http://www.ed.gov/programs/gtep/index.html or the department's grant award database at http://www.ed.gov/fund/data/award/grntawd.html.