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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1786

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

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 12, 1999

Mr. ROTHMAN (for himself and Mrs. ROUKEMA) 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.

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

9 achievement and prepare students for the 21st century

10 workplace.
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1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Establishing computer literacy programs for

4 students will help ensure that our children are re5 ceiving the skills needed for advanced education and

6 for securing employment in the 21st century.

7 (2) Computer literacy skills, such as informa8 tion gathering, critical analysis and communication

9 with the latest technology, build upon the necessary

10 basics of reading, writing, mathematics, and other

11 core subject areas.

12 (3) According to a study conducted by the Edu13 cational Testing Service (ETS), eighth grade mathe14 matics students whose teachers used computers for

15 simulations and applications outperformed students

16 whose teachers did not use such educational tech17 nology.

18 (4) Although an ever increasing amount of

19 schools are obtaining the latest computer hardware,

20 schools will not be able to take advantage of the ben21 efits of computer-based learning unless teachers are

22 effectively trained in the latest educational software

23 applications.

24 (5) The Educational Testing Service (ETS)

25 study showed that students whose teachers received

26 training in computers performed better than other
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1 students. The study also found that schools that

2 provide teachers with professional development in

3 computers enjoyed higher staff morale and lower ab4 senteeism rates.

5 (6) Some of the most exciting applications in

6 educational technology are being developed not only

7 by commercial software companies, but also by sec8 ondary school and college students. The fruit of this

9 academic talent should be channeled more effectively

10 to benefit our Nation’s elementary and secondary

11 schools.

12 SEC. 4. COMPUTER LITERACY CHALLENGE.

13 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—

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

15 is authorized to award grants to States that inte16 grate into the State curriculum the goal of making

17 all middle school graduates in the State technology

18 literate.

19 (2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pref20 erence in awarding grants under this section to

21 States which place a priority on training middle

22 school teachers.

23 (b) USES.—Grants awarded under this section shall

24 be used for teacher training in technology, with an empha25 sis on programs that prepare 1 or more teachers in each
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1 elementary, middle, and secondary school in the State to

2 become technology leaders who then serve as experts and

3 train other teachers.

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

5 schools that receive assistance under this section to pro6 vide matching funds, with respect to the cost of teacher

7 training in technology to be assisted under this section,

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

9 to help ensure that all middle school graduates in the

10 State are computer literate.

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

13 $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

14 2004.

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

16 SCHOOLS.

17 (a) COMPETITION AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of

18 Education is authorized to award grants, on a competitive

19 basis, to secondary school and college students working

20 with university faculty, software developers, and experts

21 in educational technology for the development of high22 quality educational software and Internet web sites by

23 such students, faculty, developers, and experts.

24 (b) RECOGNITION.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education

2 shall recognize outstanding educational software and

3 Internet web sites developed with assistance provided

4 under this section.

5 (2) CERTIFICATES.—The President is requested

6 to, and the Secretary shall, issue an official certifi7 cate signed by the President and Secretary, to each

8 student and faculty member who develops out9 standing educational software or an Internet web

10 site recognized under this section.

11 (c) FOCUS.—The educational software or Internet

12 web sites that are recognized under this section shall focus

13 on core curriculum areas.

14 (d) PRIORITY.—

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

16 Secretary awards grants under this section, the Sec17 retary shall give priority to awarding grants for the

18 development of educational software or Internet web

19 sites in the areas of mathematics, science, and read20 ing.

21 (2) SECOND AND THIRD YEARS.—For the sec22 ond and third years that the Secretary awards

23 grants under this section, the Secretary shall give

24 priority to awarding grants for the development of

25 educational software or Internet web sites in the
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1 areas described in paragraph (1) and in social stud2 ies, the humanities, and the arts.

3 (e) JUDGES.—The Secretary shall designate official

4 judges to recognize outstanding educational software or

5 Internet web sites assisted under this section.

6 (f) DOWNLOADING.—Educational software recog7 nized under this section shall be made available to local

8 educational agencies for free downloading from the De9 partment of Education’s Internet web site. Internet web

10 sites recognized under this section shall be accessible to

11 any user of the World Wide Web.

12 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

14 $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

15 2004.

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