FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2011

Contacts:
CoSN – Jennifer Cummings, [email protected]
ISTE – Marlene Nesary, [email protected]
SETDA – Geoff Fletcher, [email protected]
SIIA – Laura Greenback, [email protected] 

Leading Education and Business Groups Welcome Senate Introduction of the ATTAIN Act

Legislation Essential to Modernizing K-12 Classrooms, Ensuring Educators have Skills for Digital Age Instruction
Washington, DC – Representing a broad cross section of the U.S. education and business communities, 11 leading associations today applauded the introduction of the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation Act (ATTAIN) in the U.S. Senate.  The groups – Alliance for Excellent Education, American Association of School Administrators, Association of Education Service Agencies, Consortium for School Networking, International Society for Technology in Education, National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), National Education Association, National Rural Education Association, National Rural Education Advocacy Coalition, Software & Information Industry Association, and the State Educational Technology Directors Association– released the following joint statement.

“We welcome today’s Senate introduction of the ATTAIN Act, and we applaud Senators Bingaman, Murray and Blumenthal for their leadership and commitment to ensuring our students and educators can access and effectively use educational technologies.

“The legislation introduced today will foster the expansion of online and blended learning and promote technology initiatives that lead to personalized, rigorous and relevant learning. The bill also will spur efforts to increase education productivity and reduce costs through the use of technology. By prioritizing funding to enhance technology integration, professional development and leadership, the legislation supports school districts’ capacity to implement online common core assessments in 2014.

“The ATTAIN Act will help ensure that our children receive an education reflective of the technology-rich world in which they live and learn, enabling their classrooms to be equipped with appropriate technology and educators to  receive continuous and comprehensive professional development to leverage these tools effectively.

“The ATTAIN Act recognizes that technology literacy is an essential skill our children need to be college and career ready, and prepared to navigate and succeed in the competitive 21st century environment.

“In addition to the ATTAIN Act, we support the meaningful infusion of technology throughout the reauthorization of the ESEA to provide educators and local leaders the flexibility to leverage technology to meet all federal program goals and requirements. Technology is mission critical in a 21st century education, and we look forward to working with Members of Congress to ensure adequate federal leadership needed to realize this vision and potential for all students.”