Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Fund for the Improvement of Education: Partnerships in Character Education Pilot Projects; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 8, 1999)]

[Notices]

[Pages 68928-68929]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 99-31775]

[[Page 68927]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part V

Department of Education

_______________________________________________________________________

Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Fund for the

Improvement of Education: Partnerships in Character Education Pilot

Projects; Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 2000;

Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 8, 1999 /

Notices

[[Page 68928]]

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.215V]

Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Fund for the

Improvement of Education: Partnerships in Character Education Pilot

Projects; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year

(FY) 2000

Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Fund for the Improvement of

Education (FIE) is to support nationally significant programs to

improve the quality of education, assist all students to meet

challenging State content standards, and contribute to the achievement

of the National Education Goals. The purpose of this competition is to

support pilot projects that design and implement character education

programs as a way to address the broader FIE objectives.

Eligible Applicants: Only State educational agencies, in

partnership with one or more local educational agencies, may apply for

grants under this program.

The term ``State educational agency'' means the agency primarily

responsible for the State supervision of public elementary and

secondary schools (20 U.S.C. 8011 (28)).

The term ``local educational agency'' means--

(1) A public board of education or other public authority legally

constituted within a State for either administrative control or

direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary

or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or

other political subdivision of a State, or for such combination of

school districts or counties as are recognized in a State as an

administrative agency for its public elementary or secondary schools.

(2) The term includes any other public institution or agency having

administrative control and direction of a public elementary or

secondary school.

(3) The term includes an elementary or secondary school funded by

the Bureau of Indian Affairs but only to the extent that such inclusion

makes such school eligible for programs for which specific eligibility

is not provided to such school in another provision of law and such

school does not have a student population that is smaller than the

student population of the local educational agency receiving assistance

under this chapter with the smallest student population, except that

such school shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any State

educational agency other than the Bureau of Indian Affairs (20 U.S.C.

8011 (18)).

Applications Available: 12/13/1999.

Deadline for Receipt of Applications: 02/11/2000.

We must receive all applications on or before this date. This

requirement takes exception to the Education Department General

Administrative regulations (EDGAR), 34 CFR 75.102. Under the

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), the Department generally

offers interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed

regulations. However, this exception to EDGAR makes procedural changes

only and does not establish new substantive policy. Therefore, under 5

U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Educational

Research and Improvement has determined that proposed rulemaking is not

required.

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: 4/11/2000.

Available Funds: Up to $2,000,000.

Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000-$1,000,000.

Estimated Average Size of Awards: $350,000.

Maximum Award: We will reject an application that proposes a budget

exceeding a total of $1,000,000 for the entire project period.

Estimated Number of Awards: Up to 10.

Budget Period: 12 months.

Project Period: Up to 60 months.

Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this

notice.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81,

82, 85, 86, 98, and 99; and (b) The regulations in 34 CFR part 299.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The statute governing the Partnerships in

Character Education Pilot Projects program limits the total amount

awarded to any State to $1,000,000 and the funding period to five

years, of which not more than one year may be used for planning and

program design. Each applicant, operating within these parameters, may,

in designing character education activities, determine the combination

of funds and time that is most appropriate. For example, one applicant

may request $500,000 per year for two years, another may request

$100,000 for the first year, $400,000 for the second and third years,

and $100,000 for the fourth year, and a third may request $200,000 per

year for five years. In preparing your application, you should take

special care to provide a timeline and a narrative that explains the

costs requested for each budget period. Under the Character Education

program, State educational agencies provide technical and professional

assistance to local educational agencies in the development and

implementation of curriculum materials, teacher training, and other

activities related to character education. You must propose projects

designed to develop character education programs that incorporate the

following elements of character:

(a) Caring.

(b) Civic virtue and citizenship.

(c) Justice and fairness.

(d) Respect.

(e) Responsibility.

(f) Trustworthiness.

(g) Any other elements deemed appropriate by the members of the

partnership. Other program requirements are described in the

application package.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Farrar, U.S. Department of

Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 502J, Washington, DC 20208-

5645. Telephone: (202) 219-1301. If you use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TDD), you may call the Federal Information Relay Service

(FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

FOR APPLICATIONS CONTACT: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), P.O.

Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-7827.

FAX: (301) 470-1244. If you use a telecommunications device for the

deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free): 1-877-576-7734.

You may also contact ED Pubs via its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/

pubs/edpubs.html

Or you may contact ED Pubs at its E-mail address:

[email protected]

If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify

this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.215V.

Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an

alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer

diskette) on request to the program contact person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Individuals with disabilities also may obtain a copy of the

application package in an alternative format by contacting that person.

However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative

format the standard forms included in the application package.

Electronic Access to This Document

You may view this document, as well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe

Portable

[[Page 68929]]

Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at either of the following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov.fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with

Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you

have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing

Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC,

area at (202) 512-1530.

Note: The official version of this document is the document

published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the

official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal

Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://

www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 8003.

Dated: December 3, 1999.

C. Kent McGuire,

Assistant Secretary Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

[FR Doc. 99-31775 Filed 12-7-99; 8:45 am]

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