achievement and prepare students for the 21st century 
workplace. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Establishing computer literacy programs for 
students will help ensure that the Nation’s children 
are receiving the skills needed for advanced edu-
cation and for securing employment in the 21st cen-
tury. 
(2) Computer literacy skills, such as informa-
tion gathering, critical analysis, and communication 
with the latest technology, build upon the necessary 
basics of reading, writing, mathematics, and other 
core subject areas. 
(3) According to a study conducted by the Edu-
cational Testing Service (ETS), eighth-grade mathe-
matics students whose teachers used computers for 
simulations and applications outperformed students 
whose teachers did not use such educational tech-
nology. 
(4) Although an ever increasing amount of 
schools are obtaining the latest computer hardware, 
schools will not be able to take advantage of the ben-
efits of computer-based learning unless teachers are
effectively trained in the latest educational software 
applications. 
(5) The Educational Testing Service study 
showed that students whose teachers received train-
ing in computers performed better than other stu-
dents. The study also found that schools that pro-
vide teachers with professional development in com-
puters enjoyed higher staff morale and lower absen-
teeism rates. 
(6) Some of the most exciting applications in 
educational technology are being developed not only 
by commercial software companies, but also by sec-
ondary school and college students. The fruit of this 
academic talent should be channeled more effectively 
to benefit the Nation’s elementary and secondary 
schools. 
SEC. 4. COMPUTER LITERACY CHALLENGE. 
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 
is authorized to award grants to States that inte-
grate into the State curriculum the goal of making 
all middle school graduates in the State techno-
logically literate. 
(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pref-
erence in awarding grants under this section to
States that place a priority on training middle school 
teachers. 
(b) USES OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this 
section shall be used for teacher training in technology, 
with an emphasis on programs that prepare one or more 
teachers in each elementary, middle, and secondary school 
in the State to become technology leaders who then serve 
as experts and train other teachers. 
(c) MATCHING FUNDS.—Each State shall encourage 
schools that receive assistance under this section to pro-
vide matching funds, with respect to the cost of teacher 
training in technology to be assisted under this section, 
in order to enhance the impact of the teacher training and 
to help ensure that all middle school graduates in the 
State are technologically literate. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009. 
SEC. 5. HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR ALL 
SCHOOLS. 
(a) COMPETITIVE GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Sec-
retary of Education is authorized to award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to students in secondary schools and in-
stitutions of higher education, working with faculty of an 
institution of higher education, software developers, and
experts in educational technology for the development of 
high-quality educational software and Internet websites by 
such students, faculty, developers, and experts. 
(b) RECOGNITION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 
shall recognize outstanding educational software and 
Internet websites developed with assistance provided 
under this section. 
(2) CERTIFICATES.—The President is requested 
to, and the Secretary shall, issue an official certifi-
cate signed by the President or the Secretary (or 
both), to each student and faculty member who de-
velops outstanding educational software or an Inter-
net website recognized under this section. 
(3) FOCUS.—The educational software or Inter-
net websites that are recognized under this section 
shall focus on core curriculum areas. 
(4) JUDGES.—The Secretary shall designate of-
ficial judges to recognize outstanding educational 
software or Internet websites assisted under this sec-
tion. 
(c) PRIORITY.—
(1) FIRST YEAR.—For the first year that the 
Secretary awards grants under this section, the Sec-
retary shall give priority to awarding grants for the
development of educational software or Internet 
websites in the areas of mathematics, science, and 
reading. 
(2) SECOND AND THIRD YEARS.—For the sec-
ond and third years that the Secretary awards 
grants under this section, the Secretary shall give 
priority to awarding grants for the development of 
educational software or Internet websites in the 
areas described in paragraph (1) and in social stud-
ies, the humanities, and the arts. 
(d) DOWNLOADING.—Educational software recog-
nized under this section shall be made available to local 
educational agencies for free downloading from the De-
partment of Education’s Internet website. Internet 
websites recognized under this section shall be accessible 
to any user of the World Wide Web. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009.
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