I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3468

To enable America’s schools to use their computer hardware to increase 

student achievement and prepare students for the 21st century workplace, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2003

Mr. ROTHMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To enable America’s schools to use their computer hardware 

to increase student achievement and prepare students 

for the 21st century workplace, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Education for the 21st 

5 Century (E–21) Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act to enable America’s 

8 schools to use their computer hardware to increase student 
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1 achievement and prepare students for the 21st century 

2 workplace. 

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Establishing computer literacy programs for 

6 students will help ensure that the Nation’s children 

7 are receiving the skills needed for advanced edu8 cation and for securing employment in the 21st cen9 tury. 

10 (2) Computer literacy skills, such as informa11 tion gathering, critical analysis, and communication 

12 with the latest technology, build upon the necessary 

13 basics of reading, writing, mathematics, and other 

14 core subject areas. 

15 (3) According to a study conducted by the Edu16 cational Testing Service (ETS), eighth-grade mathe17 matics students whose teachers used computers for 

18 simulations and applications outperformed students 

19 whose teachers did not use such educational tech20 nology. 

21 (4) Although an ever increasing amount of 

22 schools are obtaining the latest computer hardware, 

23 schools will not be able to take advantage of the ben24 efits of computer-based learning unless teachers are 
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1 effectively trained in the latest educational software 

2 applications. 

3 (5) The Educational Testing Service study 

4 showed that students whose teachers received train5 ing in computers performed better than other stu6 dents. The study also found that schools that pro7 vide teachers with professional development in com8 puters enjoyed higher staff morale and lower absen9 teeism rates. 

10 (6) Some of the most exciting applications in 

11 educational technology are being developed not only 

12 by commercial software companies, but also by sec13 ondary school and college students. The fruit of this 

14 academic talent should be channeled more effectively 

15 to benefit the Nation’s elementary and secondary 

16 schools. 

17 SEC. 4. COMPUTER LITERACY CHALLENGE. 

18 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 

20 is authorized to award grants to States that inte21 grate into the State curriculum the goal of making 

22 all middle school graduates in the State techno23 logically literate. 

24 (2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pref25 erence in awarding grants under this section to 
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1 States that place a priority on training middle school 

2 teachers. 

3 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this 

4 section shall be used for teacher training in technology, 

5 with an emphasis on programs that prepare one or more 

6 teachers in each elementary, middle, and secondary school 

7 in the State to become technology leaders who then serve 

8 as experts and train other teachers. 

9 (c) MATCHING FUNDS.—Each State shall encourage 

10 schools that receive assistance under this section to pro11 vide matching funds, with respect to the cost of teacher 

12 training in technology to be assisted under this section, 

13 in order to enhance the impact of the teacher training and 

14 to help ensure that all middle school graduates in the 

15 State are technologically literate. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

18 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009. 

19 SEC. 5. HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR ALL 

20 SCHOOLS. 

21 (a) COMPETITIVE GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Sec22 retary of Education is authorized to award grants, on a 

23 competitive basis, to students in secondary schools and in24 stitutions of higher education, working with faculty of an 

25 institution of higher education, software developers, and 
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1 experts in educational technology for the development of 

2 high-quality educational software and Internet websites by 

3 such students, faculty, developers, and experts. 

4 (b) RECOGNITION.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 

6 shall recognize outstanding educational software and 

7 Internet websites developed with assistance provided 

8 under this section. 

9 (2) CERTIFICATES.—The President is requested 

10 to, and the Secretary shall, issue an official certifi11 cate signed by the President or the Secretary (or 

12 both), to each student and faculty member who de13 velops outstanding educational software or an Inter14 net website recognized under this section. 

15 (3) FOCUS.—The educational software or Inter16 net websites that are recognized under this section 

17 shall focus on core curriculum areas. 

18 (4) JUDGES.—The Secretary shall designate of19 ficial judges to recognize outstanding educational 

20 software or Internet websites assisted under this sec21 tion. 

22 (c) PRIORITY.—

23 (1) FIRST YEAR.—For the first year that the 

24 Secretary awards grants under this section, the Sec25 retary shall give priority to awarding grants for the 
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1 development of educational software or Internet 

2 websites in the areas of mathematics, science, and 

3 reading. 

4 (2) SECOND AND THIRD YEARS.—For the sec5 ond and third years that the Secretary awards 

6 grants under this section, the Secretary shall give 

7 priority to awarding grants for the development of 

8 educational software or Internet websites in the 

9 areas described in paragraph (1) and in social stud10 ies, the humanities, and the arts. 

11 (d) DOWNLOADING.—Educational software recog12 nized under this section shall be made available to local 

13 educational agencies for free downloading from the De14 partment of Education’s Internet website. Internet 

15 websites recognized under this section shall be accessible 

16 to any user of the World Wide Web. 

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009.

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