By SCANews Staff, August 2, 2004

The St. Louis Public School system will receive an $8,437,020 three-year grant to improve student achievement and increase educational options for parents through magnet schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced today. On behalf of Secretary Paige, the U.S. Department of Education's Michael Petrilli joined St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and other local officials for the grant presentation at Peabody Elementary School.

"Magnet schools are important options for students and parents within the public education system," Secretary Paige said. "Through their innovative programs and rigorous academics, they work to narrow the achievement gap and give choices to children currently trapped in schools that need improvement. Magnet schools help to fulfill No Child Left Behind's promise that all children deserve schools that work for them."

The Magnet Schools Assistance program provides competitive grants to help local school districts create magnet schools that are operated under a court-ordered or federally approved voluntary desegregation plan. Approximately 50 school districts will share more than $108 million in grants.

Magnet schools are public schools that offer a special curriculum capable of attracting substantial numbers of students of different racial backgrounds. Local school districts can use the schools to enhance their ability to provide public school choice to parents whose children attend schools that are not making progress according to state standards, as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The No Child Left Behind Act is the bipartisan landmark education reform law designed to change the culture of America's schools by closing the achievement gap among groups of students, offering more flexibility to states, giving parents more options and teaching students based on what works. Under the law's strong accountability provisions, states must describe how they will close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those with disabilities, achieve academically.

The magnet schools grant program is housed within the Office of Innovation and Improvement, which Secretary Paige created in December 2002 to make strategic investments in and widely distribute information about promising education practices. The office also leads the Department's efforts to provide more information to parents about the options that the No Child Left Behind Act affords them for their child's education.

More information about the No Child Left Behind Act is available at www.ed.gov.

【時報訊】

美國教育部部長Rod Paige八月二日宣佈，將在未來三年撥款八百四十三萬七千零二十元教育專款，透過Magnet學校補助聖路易公立學校改善教育成果，聖路易市市長Francis Slay與教育部長代表 Michael Petrilli八月二日在聖市Peabody小學共同出席撥款儀式。

Rod Paige教育部長表示，「Magnet學校是公立學校學生和家長一個重要的教育選擇」，經由Magnet學校，可以讓在公立學校成績不良的學生有機會加強學習，減少差距，達到有教無類(No Child Left Behind)的要求。全美國將近有50個公立學校校區，分享超過一億零八百萬之有教無類教育專款。