Emphasizing the need for additional effective education entrepreneurs to join the work of reforming America’s lowest performing public schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told reporters during a conference call this afternoon that states must be open to charter schools. Too much is at stake for states financially and for students academically to restrict choice and innovation.

“States that do not have public charter laws or put artificial caps on the growth of charter schools will jeopardize their applications under the Race to the Top Fund,” Secretary Duncan said. “To be clear, this administration is not looking to open unregulated and unaccountable schools. We want real autonomy for charters combined with a rigorous authorization process and high performance standards.”

This summer, the Department of Education begins accepting state applications for the federal government’s largest one-time investment in K-12 public school reform. By the end of the year, the department will be distributing grants from the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund. Also, $1.5 billion in Title I School Improvement Program funds is available to improve teaching and learning for all children.

“I am advocating for using whatever models work for students, and particularly where improvements have stagnated for years,” Secretary Duncan said. “We cannot continue to do that same thing and expect different results. We cannot let another generation of children be deprived of their civil right to a quality education.”

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the award of $18.5 million to enhance libraries in 57 low-income school districts across the United States. The grants will help schools improve reading achievement by providing students with increased access to current school library materials; technologically advanced media centers; and professionally certified media specialists.

“Encouraging students to improve their reading is a key to their success in school and in life,” Secretary Duncan said. “These grants help schools give students access to the most up-to-date books, technology, and highly trained library personnel to improve teaching and learning and to challenge students to achieve.”

Funded through the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, grants can be used to acquire books and other library holdings; improve school libraries’ technological resources and capabilities; facilitate Internet links and other resource-sharing networks; provide professional development for library personnel; enhance opportunities for collaboration among library specialists, teachers and administrators; and expand hours of access to library services.

For more information about the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, visit: www.ed.gov/programs/lsl and for the list of grantees and abstracts, visithttp://www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/awards.html

Richmond, VA – A statewide leadership conference for creating arts and cultural districts in communities across Virginia will be held on May 15, 2009 in Fredericksburg. The conference is hosted by The Arts & Cultural Council of the Rappahannock, and will take place at the newly renovated Catherine W. Jones McKann Center of the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center.

Arts and cultural districts are special zones designed to generate businesses, attract tourists and foster civic pride by encouraging arts and cultural activities within the designated area. The conference will focus on how such zones are created and how an arts and cultural presence can serve as a catalyst for economic development and community building.

Conference attendees will learn about flourishing examples of such overlay programs and participate in a hands-on workshop to jumpstart a blueprint for establishing similar districts in their own region. Creation of arts and cultural districts has been aided by newly enacted state legislation, Virginia House Bill 1735, which empowers every community in Virginia to create an Arts and Cultural District. 

Session speakers will share information about similar zoning programs, such as Virginia Main Street Programs, and Arts and Cultural District programs in other Virginia communities.  

Presentations from the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Municipal League will round out examination of districts from multiple points of view. Attendees will also be given a “hands-on” toolkit containing specific information about how to begin the process. 

The conference is co-sponsored by Virginia Commission for the Arts, Virginia Alliance of Local Arts Agencies, Virginia Main Street Program, Virginia Municipal League and Arts & Cultural Council of the Rappahannock.

The registration deadline is May 8, 2009. A printable registration form and brochure are available online atwww.vaartsandculture.blogspot.com, and, on April 13, at www.rapp-arts.org.

About The Virginia Commission for the Arts
The Virginia Commission for the Arts is the state agency that supports the arts through funding from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.  The Commission distributes grant awards to artists, arts and other not-for-profit organizations, educational institutions, educators and local governments, and provides technical assistance in arts management.  For further information about the Commission and its programs, contact the Virginia Commission for the Arts at 804-225-3132; arts@arts.virginia.gov; www.arts.virginia.gov.

Award is nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts

May 14, 2009

Media Contact: Liz Stark, NEA 202-682-5744 starke@arts.gov Program Contact Barry Bergey 202-682-5726 bergeyb@arts.gov

Washington, DC – The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) today announced the 2009 recipients of the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, the NEA National Heritage Fellowships. Eleven fellowships, which include a one-time award of $25,000 each, are presented to honorees from eight states and Puerto Rico. The NEA National Heritage Fellowships public programs are made possible through the support of the Darden Restaurants Foundation and its family of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52 restaurants.

The 2009 awardees were chosen for their artistic excellence and contributions to their respective artistic traditions. They represent a cross-section of ethnic cultures including Cambodian, North Indian, and West African, and promote such diverse traditional art forms as accordion-driven zydeco, willow basketry, and Yoruba sacred song and drumming.

National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chair Patrice Walker Powell said, “The NEA is proud to celebrate these artists whose lifetime of service and dedication preserve our nation’s diverse cultural heritage.”

The 2009 NEA National Heritage Fellowship recipients are:

The 2009 Bess Lomax Hawes Award is awarded to Mike Seeger, a musician, cultural scholar, and advocate from Lexington, Virginia. The Bess Lomax Hawes Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the preservation and awareness of cultural heritage.

Washington, DC - The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) today announced the recipients of the 2010 NEA Jazz Masters Award — the nation’s highest honor in this distinctly American music. The eight recipients will each receive a $25,000 grant award and be publicly honored in an awards ceremony and concert on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The eight 2010 NEA Jazz Masters are:

George Avakian, a jazz producer, manager, critic, and educator from Riverdale, New York, will receive the 2010 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.

“These master artists have dedicated their lives to shaping and advancing the rich tradition of jazz,” said NEA Acting Chair Patrice Walker Powell. “The NEA is pleased to recognize their individual creative talents and celebrate their combined musical contributions.”

Register for Expo educational sessions and save on SGIA membership

Fairfax, Virginia — The 2009 SGIA Expo (New Orleans, October 7 9) will deliver critical industry analysis, market trends and technology advancements for imaging professionals to stay ahead of the competition. Register now for any Expo educational sessions and apply 50 percent of the cost (up to $115) toward SGIA membership or renewal dues.
http://www.sgia.org/events/current_expo/sgia09/index.cfm
https://register.rcsreg.com/regos-1.0/sgia2009/ga/index2.html

The Expo’s 50-plus educational sessions cover a wide range of technical capabilities and products as well as business management expertise, to help you thrive in this competitive market.
http://www.sgia.org/events/current_expo/my_expo_planner/index.cfm

“From wide-format imaging, screen printing and a wide variety of garment decoration techniques, these seminars and workshops will touch on every aspect of the diverse imaging industry,” said Dan Marx, SGIA’s Vice President of Markets and Technologies. “Industry leaders will help attendees understand how the cutting-edge technologies showcased on the Expo floor can complement and add value to their current operations.”

To better identify which sessions meet your company goals, SGIA has created session tracks by topic and objective to perfectly match your needs. The Conference Planner also makes it easy to organize your day.

Teachers & Students Can Illustrate School Projects, Reports, Holiday Cards With Full-Color Images

Boston, MA – April 23, 2009 – Teachers can now find more than 1,000educational clip art images from DK, the publisher of beautifully illustrated reference books, on TeacherVision^®, the Internet’s most popular teacher site. Free to TeacherVision^® subscribers, the downloadable full-color clip art is great for illustrating classroom and homework activities, such as reports, special projects and more. Teachers can explore the gallery of images with a free trial subscription to TeacherVision^®.

“Visual images make learning come alive for students,” said Jess M. Brallier, publisher, TeacherVision^®. “DK is renowned as the publisher of the highest quality illustrated reference books for children and adults, and we are proud to offer this extensive gallery of clip art, along with suggestions about to how use it, to spark student thinking and creativity across the grade levels.”

The clip art images, organized by educational topic, are colorful and detailed. TeacherVision^® provides creative ideas for seamlessly integrating the images into lesson plans and other classroom activities. The clip art can easily be printed for bulletin boards, used to decorate classrooms or made into transparencies for an overhead projector. Teachers may choose to use the images to illustrate worksheets or assignments to help engage students in the topics they are studying. The images in the gallery span the seasons, and students can use the clip art for school projects, reports and holiday cards.

To help teachers make the most of this impressive collection of images, TeacherVision^® is integrating the clip art into its original worksheets and other classroom materials. For example, using photo portraits from the clip art gallery as inspiration, teachers can ask their students to write stories or poems about the people portrayed in the images and then share them with their classmates. Or they can use photos of dinosaurs or flags to help students learn to identify the images.

The DK clip art is a great way to make science come to life as well. Teachers can share the excitement of watching a butterfly emerge from chrysalis to its full beauty with the colorful DK photo images in the TeacherVision^® gallery.

A seven-day free trial subscription to TeacherVision^® is available. Subscriptions include unlimited access to the DK clip art gallery, more than 17,500 resources for pre-K-12 teachers, a library of more than 180 printable books and a 30 percent discount on the MyGradebook, an online gradebook for teachers.

About TeacherVision^® (TeacherVision.com)

TeacherVision^® is the Internet’s most popular teacher site for trusted online tools, lesson plans, printables, classroom management resources, and skill-building exercises to help teachers save time and make learning fun. TeacherVision^® is dedicated to supporting children’s learning in school and in life.

Read more about TeacherVision^®.

TeacherVision^® is part of Pearson, the world’s largest integrated education company. Pearson’s other primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

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