Senator Charles E. Schumer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2010

SCHUMER ANNOUNCES NEARLY $750,000 IN FEDERAL FUNDING COMING TO CAPITAL REGION BOCES COOPERATIVE

Federal Funding Helps Large School Districts Reduce Class Sizes so Students Receive More Individual Attention

Program Helps Students Prepare for Increasingly Competitive Job Market with Specialized Skill Training

For Years, BOCES Program Across the State Have Helped Students Better Prepare for the Workforce

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the Capital Region BOCES Cooperative, which includes Albany, Schoharie, Schenectady and Saratoga, is set to receive $748,939 in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education through a program that promotes smaller classroom sizes and specialized skill training for students in high school. The funding is awarded on a competitive basis t.o large school districts making efforts to reduce classroom sizes.

“These federal funds will help students throughout the Capital Region by reducing the size of classrooms and training students in specialized skills that will make them competitive for college and the job market,” Schumer said. “Having a smaller classroom gives each student a better chance to learn and avoid falling behind, these federal dollars are an important investment in our Capital Region schools.”

The nearly $750,000 in federal funding coming to the Capital Region BOCES Cooperative is from the Department of Education’s Smaller Learning Communities Program. The federal program helps large public high schools reduce classroom sizes by offering freshmen academies, multi-grade academies organized around career interests or ‘houses’ where students are organized in a small group that they stay with throughout high school. The program also teaches the students specialized skills that will prepare them for the workforce as well as personal college and career advising.

In 1948 the New York State legislature created Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) to provide shared educational programs and services to school districts within the state. Today there are 37 BOCES, incorporating all but nine of the state’s 721 school districts. BOCES partner with districts to provide a broad range of services that help meet the evolving educational needs of students. The cooperative program prepares students for an increasingly competitive job market through cost efficient programs that helps school districts save money and close achievement gaps.

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