ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 12 February 2, 1999 In this issue: [1] President's Budget for FY2000--School and Public Libraries and New Initiatives [2] State of American Education Address Offered As Free Teleconference on February 16 [1] President's Budget for FY2000--School and Public Libraries and New Initiatives LIBRARY PROGRAMS AND IMLS The Administration's FY2000 budget proposal was released on February 1. The President's budget would set Library Services and Technology Act funding under the Institute of Museum and Library Services at $154.5 million -- with library grants to states at $138.1 million, $2.6 million for Native American and Native Hawaiian Library Services, and National Leadership Grants for Libraries at $10.6 million. Within the National Leadership Grants program is $5 million of a new $10 million initiative to develop a National Digital Library for Education that would be accessible to all. This is part of the President's Technology Initiative. In announcing the new initiative, Diane Frankel, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, said, "The National Digital Library for Education will make more museum and library collections accessible to every school child and every American. Libraries are on the forefront of using new technology to get people the information they want and need. For museums, this is the first federal program specifically designed to make their collections accessible on line." The National Digital Library would include digital images of books, museum artifacts and paintings. Five million would be part of the library program budget and $5 million would be part of the museum budget. The budget contains $34 million for museum services. Further details can be found at http://www.imls.fed.us. EDUCATION BUDGET U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, in a released statement, said that with congressional approval, this budget would "help end social promotion, reduce class size, modernize schools, raise the quality of teaching, expand after-school activities, improve literacy, help immigrants learn English, and provide new pathways to college for disadvantaged students." The education budget outlines a $25 billion bond initiative to help build, repair or modernize up to 6,000 schools. For year two of the class size reduction plan, the budget includes a proposed $1.4 billion to hire 38,000 new teachers. For higher education, the budget proposal would include an increase in the maximum Pell Grant of $125 over the FY99 level -- bringing the maximum to $3,250, and an increase of $64 million for Work-Study, for a Work-Study total request of $934 million. Seven percent of Work-Study grants must be used for working in community service jobs like family literacy programs or tutoring in mathematics or reading. ESEA TITLE VI The Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VI-Innovative Education Program Strategies State Grants would be zeroed out for the third consecutive year, with the same budget rationale as in the past-no clear measurable goals. This title provides funding for school library and instructional materials as one of the uses of the block grant. As a result of strong House leadership in FY99, ESEA VI received $375 million in appropriations. READING EXCELLENCE ACT With passage of the Reading Excellence Act, a part of the omnibus appropriations bill for FY99, the first year of funding was established at $260 million. The budget request for FY2000 would be $286 million. The Department of Education held briefings on this and other programs in December and applications will be available soon with deadline for receipt in March. The Department will make competitive grants to states that have established statewide literacy partnerships and plans for improved reading instruction. Subgrants will then be given to schools. School and public libraries are included in the legislation. For further details see http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads, or contact Kristin Bunce at 202-401-8888. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY The FY2000 budget includes $450 million for the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, an increase of $25 million to help pay for hardware, train teachers to use technology and develop and buy educational software. 21st CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTERS The Department of Education is asking for $600 million -- triple the FY99 request -- for before and after school programs, hoping to expand coverage to include 7,700 centers. Priority will be given to schools -- working towards the elimination of social promotion, which provide tutoring, mentoring and summer school. COMMUNITY BASED TECHNOLOGY CENTERS This program, initiated in FY99 and funded at $10 million, makes grants to public housing facilities, community centers and libraries to make educational technology available to residents of low-income urban and rural communities. Forty grants were made in FY99 and the request for FY2000 would be $65 million, allowing up to 300 new grants. NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS--NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES The President's budget includes a requested increase in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts of $150 million and for the National Endowment for the Humanities of $151.4 million. Further ALAWON articles will provide details for other aspects of the President's FY2000 budget requests. [2] State of American Education Address Offered As Free Teleconference on February 16 U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley will deliver his 6th annual State of American Education Address at California State University, Long Beach, on February 16 at 11 a.m.-12(noon) PST (2- 3 p.m. EST). The event will be broadcast live via satellite. Use, duplication, and distribution are free and unrestricted. According to a Department of Education press release, Secretary Riley's remarks will present his view of the nation's schools and colleges as the year 2000 approaches, with a focus on the critical role of teachers in preparing students for the 21st century. He will discuss the nation's need to recruit and train more than 2.2 million teachers over the next decade and the importance of making sure they are well prepared for today's and tomorrow's classroom. In last year's State of American Education Address, Riley called on Congress to pass President Clinton's initiative to link low income middle schools with colleges and universities to give students resources to help them prepare for successful futures. Last fall, Congress responded by passing Gear Up, a national effort to encourage young people to have high expectations, stay in school and study hard, and go to college. This initiative will provide middle school students, especially those in low income communities, with comprehensive services including mentoring, counseling and enrichment programs beginning in 6th or 7th grade and continuing through high school graduation, improved academic support and advice about critical college preparation courses, and more information at an early age to help them prepare for college and careers. To participate in the teleconference, locate a facility with satellite downlink capabilities, or call your local cable access station or school board channel and give them the following satellite coordinates: C-BAND: Galaxy 3R transponder/ channel 21; Orbital Location: 95 degrees West; Downlink Frequency 4120 mHz; Horizontal Polarity; Audio subcarriers 6.2 and 6.8 KU-BAND: SBS-6 transponder/ channel 04; Orbital Location: 74 degrees West; Downlink Frequency 11798 mHz; Vertical Polarity; Audio subcarriers 6.2 and 6.8 Satellite coordinates are subject to change. Register your participation to ensure you will be notified of any changes by calling 1-800-USA-LEARN or at http://www.ed.gov/inits/stm/stated99.html. ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. 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