Vice President Al Gore today announced $9.9 million in grants to help working families gain Information Age benefits by bringing computers and the Internet to community centers, public housing, and libraries.

"Technology must be about opportunity for every American family and that means making technology available to every family for education, skills development -- even for young children just learning to read," said Vice President Al Gore. "The world is changing quickly and we must make sure those changes work for our families. Community Technology Centers will bring countless new opportunities to working families -- helping children and adults to help themselves."

The Vice President urged the Congress to provide full funding for the Administration's request for $65 million for Community Technology Centers (CTC's). Last week, the House and Senate provided only $10 million, a cut of $55 million.

Aimed at "narrowing the digital divide," the Community Technology Centers will be located near the working families who will use them -- in public housing facilities, community centers or libraries -- and will provide a range of services. For example, centers might provide:

• Workforce development and employment information -- basic and advanced computer skills training, resume writing workshops, and online access to job databases.
• Pre-school and family programs available at times when parents can bring young children to use age-appropriate software. Linked to other programs such as Head Start, family literacy or daycare providers without access to computers.
• After-school activities that will provide structured opportunities for students to use software that offers homework help, academic enrichment, and exploration of the Internet.
• Adult education -- individually, or in collaboration with existing programs, GED training, English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction, adult basic education, or post-secondary education classes using the latest learning technologies.

40 grants will be awarded over the next three years. 26 were given to urban zones and 14 to rural areas. The Education Department's Office of Vocational and Adult Education received a total of 750 center applications from all 50 states for fiscal year 1999. The administration has requested $65 million for Community Technology Centers in fiscal year 2000, to support 300 additional grants, and the formation of up to 500 new centers to help more working families.

Among the grantees are:

• Casa Grande Elementary School District 4 in Casa Grade, Arizona. The Central Arizona Community Technology Initiative (CACTI) will establish CTC's in three rural and Native American communities in Arizona. The centers will serve at-risk children, the working poor, and those without access to computers. Instructional technology will be used for academic enrichment, workforce development and GED completion.
• The Children's Aid Society, Harlem, New York City. The grant will be used to expand an existing center and build three new satellite centers. Serving the Harlem Empowerment Zone, the centers will work with Computers for Youth to increase home access, improve computer literacy among residents, and increase participant exposure to information technology careers through "Silicon Alley" mentors.
• DePaul University, Chicago. The award provides for the expansion of the existing Learning by Association Community Technology Center. In addition, it will create a new center in one of the most impoverished, mostly immigrant areas of Chicago's Humbolt Park. The center will provide assistance for adult education, after-school programming and small-business start-up assistance through connections with the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development.

More information is available at the CTC website, www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/CTC.