To help states comply with the highly-qualified teacher and school-choice provisions of NCLB, the Department of Education recently awarded more than $13 million in grants to several organizations to help attract able professionals into teaching, to inform families of their educational options under NCLB, and to expand and study charter school achievement. The New Teacher Project and the National Center for Education Information received a total of $5 million to help attract a greater number of alternative candidates into teaching. Roughly half was given to the New Teacher Project to enhance the Department's efforts to "open classroom doors to talented individuals who have the knowledge and skills to be excellent teachers," while the remainder was given to the National Center for Education Information to create a comprehensive clearinghouse of information on alternative teacher certification programs. The Department has also given over one million dollars in grants to three organizations - the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options (Hispanic CREO), the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), and the Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation (GEO) - that work to educate poor parents about their education options. Finally, the Department gave $4.7 million in grants to expand and improve the quality of charter schools and $3.7 million to Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. to conduct a rigorous study on charters' impact on student achievement.
"More than $1 million in grants is awarded to empower families with information about their rights under No Child Left Behind," press release, Department of Education, October 9, 2003
"$5 million in grants awarded to help states, school districts get more highly qualified teachers into classrooms," press release, Department of Education, October 9, 2003
"More Than $8 Million in Grants Awarded to Expand Charter Schools, Study Charter School Achievement," press release, Department of Education, October 9, 2003