Clinton Pushes $128-Million Plan to Train Teachers on Computers

Saying not enough teachers are prepared to use computers in the classroom, President Clinton on Saturday announced in his weekly radio address $128 million in grants to train teachers in technology.

“We owe it to America’s children to help their teachers become as comfortable with a computer as they are with a chalkboard,” Clinton said. The address was recorded Friday, while the president was visiting Berlin during a weeklong European trip.

Clinton said the grants would be parceled out over three years to 122 teacher colleges and other institutions across the country.

“These resources will train new teachers to use technology to improve student achievement,” Clinton said.

“With rising student enrollment and teacher retirements, America will need more than 2 million new teachers over the next 10 years. We have to make sure every one of them can use a computer to help students meet high standards,” he said.

Clinton criticized the Republican-controlled House for failing to adopt his budget proposal to double spending on technology training for teachers, providing such training to 1 million educators by 2004.

“The education budget making its way through Congress simply doesn’t make the grade,” Clinton said. “It invests too little in our schools and demands too little from them.”

He threatened to veto any budget bill that did not meet his goals of improving low-performing schools, reducing class size, offering widespread access to technology, improving school buildings and increasing teacher quality.

Responding to Clinton’s comments, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, J.C. Watts Jr. of Oklahoma, said grants are only a partial answer and represent an outdated “Washington-knows-best” approach to improving computer literacy.