This flexible new authority would support 40 grants to states and school districts to implement and test new approaches to public school choice, including inter-district programs and public schools at work sites and on college campuses. Our emphasis on accountability also acknowledges the importance of recognizing success. This is why the FY2001 budget request includes two programs to upgrade school facilities. Tax credit bonds, which the president is proposing for the third year in a row, would provide interest-free financing to help state and local governments pay for modernizing schools and addressing overcrowding. An additional factor driving the demand for the upgrade of school facilities is the explosion in the development and use of educational technology based on multimedia computers and access to the resources of the Internet.
Computers are the blackboard and chalk of the future.
And to help close the digital divide in our communities between those who enjoy the full benefits of computers and the Internet and those economically disadvantaged individuals and families who lack access to such technology, the budget would more than triple funding for Community Technology Centers. The president's FY2001 budget also expands support for programs that help students master the basics and close achievement gaps between disadvantaged and minority students and their more advantaged peers. We need to elevate the teaching profession and expand opportunities for teachers to continually update their skills. Improving teacher quality is a major emphasis in the Educational Excellence for All Children Act, the administration's proposal for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. We need to make sure our teachers are prepared to teach to the new state standards, and we need to help states and communities deal with the projected nationwide shortage of two million teachers over the next ten years.