638 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 1998 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.215V]

Fund for the Improvement of

Education: Partnerships in Character

Education Pilot Projects; Notice

Inviting Applications for New Awards

for Fiscal Years (FY) 1998 and 1999

Purpose of Program: The purpose of

the Fund for the Improvement of

Education (FIE) is to support nationally

significant programs to improve the

quality of education, assist all students

to meet challenging State content

standards, and contribute to the

achievement of the National Education

Goals. The purpose of this competition

is to support pilot projects that design

and implement character education

programs as a way to address the

broader FIE objectives.

Eligible Applicants: Only State

educational agencies, in partnership

with one or more local educational

agencies, may apply for grants under

this program.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Applications: 3/16/98.

Applications Available: 1/20/98.

Available Funds: Up to $4,000,000.

Estimated Range of Awards:

$100,000–$1,000,000.

Estimated Number of Awards: Up to

10.

Maximum Award: The Secretary will

not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding a total of

$1,000,000.

Note: The Department is not bound by any

estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 60 months.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) 34

CFR Parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85,

and 86; and (b) the regulations in 34

CFR Parts 98, 99, 700, and 299 (General

Provisions, Elementary and Secondary

Education Act, published on May 22,

1997, in the Federal Register (62 FR

28247).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is the

Department’s intent to fund two cycles

of awards from this competition. The

first cycle of awards will be made from

FY 1998 funds. If applications of high

quality remain unfunded, additional

awards will be made in the second cycle

in FY 1999, pending availability of FY

1999 funds.

The statute governing the

Partnerships in Character Education

Pilot Projects program, limits the

amount awarded to any State to

$1,000,000 and limits the funding

period to five years. Within those

parameters, for the previous funding

cycles for this program, the Secretary

established a ceiling of $250,000 per

year for up to four years. However,

based on the experiences of previous

grantees, and on suggestions made by

State educational agency officials who

have not participated in this program,

the Secretary has decided to offer a

more flexible funding structure for this

competition. Therefore, in designing

character education activities, each

applicant may determine the

combination of funding and time that is

most appropriate. The total funding

requested for the entire grant period

may not exceed $1,000,000; the total

project period may not exceed five

years; and not more than one year may

be used for planning and program

design. For example, one applicant may

request $500,000 per year for two years,

while another may request $100,000 for

the first year, $400,000 for the second

and third years, and $100,000 for the

fourth year.

In preparing an application, each

applicant should take special care to

provide a timeline and a narrative that

explains the costs requested for each

budget period.

Under the Character Education

program, State educational agencies

provide technical and professional

assistance to local educational agencies

in the development and implementation

of curriculum materials, teacher

training, and other activities related to

character education. Applicants must

propose projects designed to develop

character education programs that

incorporate the following elements of

character:

(a) Caring.

(b) Civic virtue and citizenship.

(c) Justice and fairness.

(d) Respect.

(e) Responsibility.

(f) Trustworthiness.

(g) Any other elements deemed

appropriate by the members of the

partnership.

Other program requirements are

described in the application package.

FOR APPLICATIONS OR INFORMATION

CONTACT: To request an application:

Facsimile machine: 202–219–2053;

Voice Mail: 202–219–2116; E-Mail:

JudylCollins@ed.gov; or Mail: OERI/

FIE Application, 555 New Jersey

Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20208–

5645. Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD), may call the Federal Information

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time,

Monday through Friday.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternate

format (e.g., Braille, large print,

audiotape, or computer diskette) on

request to the contact person listed in

the preceding paragraph.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain a copy of the application package

in an alternate format, also, by

contacting that person. However, the

Department is not able to reproduce in

an alternate format the standard forms

included in the application package.

Electronic Access to This Document

Anyone may view this document, as

well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the

Federal Register, in text or portable

document format (pdf) on the World

Wide Web at either of the following

sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the pdf you must have the

Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with

Search, which is available free at either

of the previous sites. If you have

questions about using the pdf, call the

U.S. Government Printing Office toll

free at 1–888–293–6498.

Anyone may also view these

documents in text copy only on an

electronic bulletin board of the

Department. Telephone: (202) 219–1511

or, toll free, 1–800–222–4922. The

documents are located under Option

G—Files/Announcements, Bulletins and

Press Releases.

Note: The official version of a document is

the document published in the Federal

Register.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 8003.

Dated: December 30, 1997.

Ricky T. Takai,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of

Educational Research and Improvement.

[FR Doc. 98–178 Filed 1–5–98; 8:45 am]

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