Department of Education awards emergency preparedness grants

Published 6 September 2006

Seventy-four schools will receive a total of $23 million for staff training and equipment purchases

This is not the place to debate the merits of President Bush’s much-touted and much-criticized No Child Left Behind program. As to educational matters, we offer no opinion. One unpublicized element, however, recently caught our eye. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced last week the award of more than $23 million in grants under the Emergency Response and Crisis Management (ERCM) program to “help school districts incorporate appropriate methods and procedures in their emergency response plan.” Seventy-four school districts in twenty-six states will receive money to train staff and students in crisis response, coordinate evacuation procedures with local authorities, and purchase equipment.

-read more in this pressrelease; read more about the ERCM program here