The Corvallis School District has eight elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools serving 6850 students. A new 125,000-square-foot middle school is scheduled to open in August 2004, and a new 230,000-square-foot high school in September 2006. The new schools will serve 552 students in the middle school and 1306 students in the high school. The school board, with the help of the district’s Energy Education Coordinator, decided that energy efficiency would be a priority for the two new schools (Corvallis School District 2004). In 1999, the district partnered with an energy consultant, Energy Education, Inc., to identify and implement energy savings projects. By focusing on reducing energy use during off-peak hours and encouraging behavioral changes, such as turning off lights and computers when not in use, the district has saved $1.5 million from 1999 to 2004. A reimbursement from the local utility, Pacific Power, of $ 5,200 funded a lighting upgrade for the Corvallis High School cafeteria. A Consumer’s Power rebate and Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) of $24,000 funded the Crescent Valley High School gymnasium lighting retrofit (Mingo 2004). Other projects have included installing T-8 lighting; digitally controlled heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment; and energy-efficient boilers. Teachers provided significant input on the design of the new schools, and both teachers and students have requested energy data for use in classrooms. The Oregon State Energy Office provided recommendations on community education and outreach to the administrative staff in the Corvallis School District (Wright 2004).

Because the schools have had significant energy and monetary savings, the community has been supportive of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in the two new schools. In the 2004 Report to the Superintendent (Corvallis School District 2004), the school district called for energy efficiency and renewable energy measures to be pursued for the two new schools. Both schools are applying for LEED Silver ratings. Energy efficiency and renewable energy will be incorporated directly into the buildings and curriculum. Estimates indicate that the new high school will use 35% less energy than a conventional school built to code, and the middle school, 30% less energy. The district is also planning to install a small, grid-connected photovoltaic system in one of the elementary schools for educational purposes (Mingo 2004).

The Tucson Unified School District’s (TUSD) primary goal for school building
construction and maintenance is to improve the learning and teaching environment by improving building and systems performance and energy savings. Because of Tucson’s hot, dry climate, energy use—particularly for cooling loads—is a significant portion of the total school budget. The TUSD has 107 schools and 8 million square feet of interior space supporting approximately 60,000 students. According to district staff, the potential savings resulting from energy efficiency and water efficiency projects (identified in professional energy audits) is more than $1 million annually. These projects featured lighting retrofits, use of reclaimed water for irrigation, and energy management systems. The TUSD established a Resources Efficiency Awareness Program (REAP) in 1991, a point system for schools with monetary awards. The district wrote, “Everyone in TUSD can manage energy, water, and waste more wisely to improve both student and school facility performance. We all benefit by practicing better environmental and economic stewardship” (TUSD 2004).

The TUSD is also actively promoting renewable energy through the Tucson Solar School Project. This area has excellent solar resources, and TUSD will be installing solar electric (photovoltaic) systems in six schools in 2004 and 2005. Project partners include Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP), the Greater Tucson Coalition for Solar Energy, and state and national solar energy programs. In 2002, TUSD, in partnership with TEP, installed two 8-kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic systems purchased through TEP’s SunShare program. Six additional TUSD schools will be selected for 1-2 kW photovoltaic system installations, and the technology will be integrated into the math and science curriculum. Participating schools will also receive targeted energy efficiency retrofits such as lighting upgrades, vending machine controls, and energy management control systems. By reducing energy costs and providing new learning opportunities for students, energy efficiency and renewable energy are helping the Tucson program address both financial and academic needs (TUSD 2004).

Schools in the United States spend $7.8 billion on energy each year—more than the cost of computers and textbooks combined, according to a 2003 report from the National Center for Education Statistics. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that these high utility bills could be reduced as much as 25% if schools adopt readily available high performance design principles and technologies. Accordingly, hundreds of K-12 schools across the country have made a commitment to improve the learning and teaching environment of schools while saving money and energy and protecting the environment.

DOE and its public- and private-sector partners have developed Energy Design
Guidelines for High Performance Schools, customized for nine climate zones in U.S. states and territories. These design guidelines provide information for school decision makers and design professionals on the advantages of energy efficiency and renewable energy designs and technologies. With such features as natural daylighting, efficient electric lights, water conservation, and renewable energy, schools in all types of climates are proving that school buildings, and the students and teachers who occupy them, are indeed high performers. This site describes high performance schools from each of the nine climate zones associated with the Energy Design Guidelines. The nine case studies focus on the high performance design strategies implemented in each school, as well as the cost savings and benefits realized by students, faculty, the community, and the environment.

Education decision-makers face the challenge of equipping young people with the skills necessary to compete in the global economy and need information and tools for formulating effective policy. This website discusses key issues related to technology in education and presents several major findings, including:

• Academic research and private-sector investment decisions indicate that computers in schools contribute to improved academic outcomes, boost a nation’s economic competitiveness, and attract job-creating economic investments.

• Governments need to consider the entire cost of school computing solutions, rather than merely the initial expenses. A total cost of ownership model takes into account recurrent and hidden costs such as teacher training, support and maintenance, and the cost of replacing hardware over a five-year period.

• Support and training are recurrent costs that constitute two of the three largest costs in the total cost of ownership model. They are greater than hardware costs and much higher than software fees.

• Ultra-low cost computers and Linux-based solutions are relatively equal in cost to traditional hardware and proprietary software solutions because they require higher labor and replacement costs over a five-year period.
• The total cost of ownership for different computer types and software platforms is relatively consistent.

Critical success factors, such as IT ecosystems and platform stability and longevity therefore need to be considered in affordable computing decisions.

IP Telephony – the ability to use the Internet Protocol (IP) to place voice calls over the data network – is increasingly the technology of choice for business and government entities and, as a growing number of schools can now attest, is what is enabling them to make voice part of their technology mix. Specifically, IP Telephony yields the following benefits to K-12:

1. Lower total cost of ownership:
IP Telephony lets schools leverage their existing data infrastructure to drive network costs down and cost effectively deploy telephones in classrooms. IP Telephony also allows schools to lower network management and maintenance costs by moving them to a single network environment. Lastly, IP Telephony gives schools the ability to share applications across the network thereby cost effectively enabling features and functionality, which were not previously available or affordable.

2. Improve staff productivity and morale, improve district-wide operating efficiencies and reduce costs:
Relevant and intuitive applications such as Unified Messaging and Integrated Messaging enable teachers and principals to be more productive and responsive to time sensitive inquiries. These applications also yield hard cost savings to schools by reducing fax machine, cartridge, paper, and fax toll expenses. Messaging, IVR, Outbound Dialing, and Speech-Enabled applications, for example, greatly increase administrative office efficiencies and simultaneously help to improve parental notification and involvement.

3. Outreach:
IP Telephony solutions help schools reduce the digital divide by ensuring notification of, and access to, critical information in a language and form that all parents can understand. IP Telephony solutions also help to facilitate parent/teacher communications as well as intra and inter-district communications and collaboration.

4. Enhance School Safety:
IP Telephony solutions allow school administrators to proactively disseminate critical information to staff and parents during an emergency. IP Telephony also allows school administrators to communicate with teachers and staff anywhere on school grounds thereby dramatically improving response times and improving outcomes during emergencies.

5. Accelerate the Adoption and Utilization of Existing and Future Systems and
Applications:
IP Telephony helps schools achieve a higher return on existing system and application investments (e.g. online content including events calendars, lunch menus, emergency closures, etc…) by enabling users to access the information using voice as the interface.

1. The Digital Divide: Not all stakeholder groups are capable or comfortable using computers and the Internet. National studies indicate that nearly half of households in the U.S. do not have Internet access and despite on-going efforts, many teachers continue to report a lack of advanced technology skills.

2. Data is not always the most appropriate communications medium: This is both a function of how people are naturally inclined to communicate as well as the type of event provoking the communication (e.g. emergency situations, disciplinary problems).

3. A lack of meaningful and relevant applications: Despite massive investments in computers and wiring, studies indicate that the majority of schools are still using the Internet for non real-time, non bandwidth-intensive applications.

Because the relationship between academic failure and teen pregnancy is so strong, and because teen pregnancy affects the educational achievement of teens themselves as well as that of their children, those concerned about educating young people should also be concerned with preventing teen pregnancy. Moreover, given the increasing demands in schoolingnecessary to qualify for a well-paying job, it is more important than ever for teens to finish high school and attain post secondary education when possible.

Overall, about half (51%) of teen moms have a high school diploma compared to 89% of women who didn’t have a teen birth. Young teen mothers are even less likely to graduate from high school. Fewer than four in ten (38%) mothers who have a child before they turn 18 have a high school diploma. Parenthood is a leading cause of school drop out among teen girls—30% of teen girls cited pregnancy or parenthood as a reason for dropping out of high school. Other data find that less than two percent of young teen mothers (those who have a baby before age 18) attain a college degree by age 30.

Children of teen mothers are more likely than mothers who gave birth at age 20-21 to drop out of high school. In fact, only about two-thirds of children born to teen mothers earned a high school diploma compared to 81 percent of children of later childbearers. Children of teen mothers also do not perform as well as children of older mothers on measures of child development and school readiness such as cognition, language and communication, and interpersonal skills.

They are also less likely to read simple books independently and to demonstrate early writing ability compared to the children of mothers aged 20-21. Children of teen mothers do worse in school than those born to older parents. They are 50 percent more likely to repeat a grade, are less likely to complete high school than the children of older mothers, and have lower performance on standardized tests. The relationship between education and teen pregnancy works both ways. That is, teen pregnancy often has a negative impact on education, as noted above. It is also the case that school achievement, attendance, and involvement helps reduce the risk of teen pregnancy. Put another way, staying in school and getting an education helps prevent teen pregnancy. Teens who have dropped out of school are more likely to become pregnant and have a child than their peers who stay in school.

Teens who are more involved in their school are less likely than their peers who are not as closely connected to their school to get pregnant. Important aspects of school engagement include grades, test scores, class participation, homework completion, and a perception of support and connectedness with teachers and administrators. Planning to attend college after high school is also associated with a lower risk of teen pregnancy.

parents have to attend to educational opportunities for troubled teens, their financial standing, or free programs of charitable organizations and government agencies run to explore writing to choose.

The parents of troubled teenagers, a budget for education. Parents should consider whether the costs of prisons or schools or camps, to their budget. If the fee is not paid, the child will be sent home. This reduces the confidence of young people in difficulty and may in the teenagers exposed to higher risk. If the parents can not afford school reform, they have the child in the reform programs in low-cost local organizations or the government or managed. If the parents of an Education Fund loan must be paid interest on the loan.

Schools for troubled teens provides scholarships and financial support for parents who qualify for the loan. Some financial institutions offer loans to the borrower trained to fund education for young people worried. Some schools offer partial scholarships to students from low-income families.

Some camps may be offered through loans and through an agreement with financial institutions funding. In support of the staff at this training camp to the parents of the loan. These loans are designed to educate young people involved low-income families to finance. The loans are with such a reasonable and affordable rates of interest. The only problem is that parents must meet the requirement of credit approval. Because young people in difficulty is a financial risk are the admission criteria are very difficult to overcome.

Scholarships, federal and state to educate children with special needs. The learning problems of troubled youth are recognized by these awards. Some scholarships are awarded to children who play truant on target. These scholarships are rare and unlikely return to the excellent education of troubled youth finances, businesses and governments hesitate to attain scholarships to offer.

private funding for organized programs. These grants fund programs to gather and learn for troubled youth. Clubs and charities together for educational opportunities and jobs for troubled youth offer, and these programs are funded under these grants. Moreover, young men and women pay a subsidy for work.

Education funding for troubled teenagers is not easy to obtain. Restless Youth are high-risk students, governments and financial institutions are reluctant to finance their studies. social organizations, but offer low cost and opportunities for education costs for troubled teens. Parents who can not afford expensive residential school, military schools and treatment programs should determine their children in these programs at low cost or free education, and effective help for troubled youth instead.

The evolution of computers and increased demand from individuals for opportunities, training and other tasks at the same time, distance learning to earn fast on the road to a diploma or a vocational certificate .

Distance education can take many forms. You can get a certificate program or degree. The visit a university, the accreditation will ensure that the training you receive as profitable as you graduate from the traditional way. Higher education is no longer drying boring classes take place in a classroom full of students. Education turns to virtual classrooms, e-books and electronic bulletin boards.

Distance learning is going to school on your terms. Yes, there are limits. Yes, you have material to study, but basically the rest is yours. You, the students choose to study when and where the tasks and complete. Until you have a computer and Internet access, you can use the lessons and discussions. You can make your orders at midnight in a bathrobe or 6 hours to enjoy your morning coffee. It’s your time to adjust to the study if you want.

Distance learning has on higher education accessible to everyone without prejudice. Many people are in love with the Internet, because the facilities it offers please. If something you will be judged by your words. The same applies to the distance. Race, sex, age, nationality or religious preference set in your training at all. You can also give a name and a comment. You do not judge how you look, or the realization of accent.

Opportunities open up the possibility for those who take distance learning. For example, those in a small town not more than one community college. If they desire a bachelor’s degree in the computer system, their only option is to win trip to another city to participate in class. If they have jobs and children can end that dream. Distance learning gives them a chance to earn the baccalaureate. They do not move or organize the lives of their children.

Who can find a job to continue their job search, while enhancing their skills. You can obtain a diploma or correspondence courses in subjects such as QuickBooks or Microsoft Office. These skills will provide a desk job. They could be a program to learn a pharmacy tech or a medical assistant administrative. All these skills will help them create jobs.

Distance education opens doors for people every day. People acquire new skills in accredited schools. Employees earn a BA and an MA from their kitchen table in his spare moments. All this is possible with the commitment and desire for higher education. Distance learning allows.

In these modern times, it is actually never too late to return to college. More and more individuals are finding out exactly how painless it is to continue one’s education and learning by means of distance education. Although elementary and high school levels of online schooling can be obtained, it is the college-level and professional online courses which are much more popular. These are mainly popular with older students who are either too self-conscious or too busy to go to a regular physical institution, yet at the same time, would like to get a college degree.

Not all people can afford or want to go to college after graduating from high school. Other people do go on to college but are not able to graduate. Monetary circumstances, private preferences or even other conditions might cause them to take a job or do something else.

A report demonstrated that people with university degrees are compensated much better than their counterparts who do not have it. A better job is one of the common reasons for taking online courses, usually with the aim of obtaining a higher degree. This may be the first step towards a career change, by entering a different field of study.

Joining an online school and taking online courses is a way to keep up-to-date in one’s field of study. For instance, a housewife who will be getting into the work force after a prolonged sabbatical might choose to take a few courses in order to refresh her expertise or increase the abilities necessary for the job. A second example is an IT professional who would like to keep up with the most recent developments in his field by going to online classes on the usage of new software.

People can take online courses to master a new technique. This may be a technical or non-technical skill that can be used in the workplace, or something that people want to learn simply because they find it intriguing. There’s also online courses that address soft skills or skills that focus on improving someone’s disposition.

There are numerous establishments or firms providing online education, but this means that one should make sure to take only courses from reputable services. An online diploma or certificate won’t be worthwhile if a person’s company doesn’t acknowledge it. Reputable services include business leaders (like prestigious IT firms offering online courses) and affiliates or partners of recognized academic institutions (like the online education department of a prestigious college).

Convenience is a significant feature for online courses compared to going to a brick and mortar school or training facility. One can stay at home or from your desk at work while listening to online lectures or accessing learning materials such as information products and video tutorials. Internet tests and evaluations give you a quick feedback on one’s performance.

The reputation and availability of the internet nowadays have made educators and trainers understand the benefits of online education. Even employers and educational institutions understand and accept credentials earned over the internet. Because of this acknowledgement, people who want to continue their education and learning to improve themselves as well as their professions tend to be more confident in going online to accomplish their goals.