News

Proposed federal grants may help teachers, libraries

By James Pluta

Schoolteachers and small business owners will be able to financially
benefit from two new federal programs that are incorporated in a $126
million Omnibus spending bill approved by Congress last month — if the
legislation is signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Teachers statewide may soon participate in a project of the Golden Apple
Foundation, which is set to receive $350,000 in the bill.

That award will support a partnership between the foundation and the
Aurora-based Illinois Math and Science Academy to recruit and train
mathematics and science teachers.

Participants in the program will have to agree to teach for five years in
a needy Illinois school.

A $300,000 grant to the Illinois State Library in Springfield will benefit
small business owner across the state by allowing the institution, in
cooperation with the Illinois Library Association, to assist public
libraries in expanding their small business and employment resources,
including new technology.

The spending plan was approved by Congress on Dec. 13, according to
Assistant U.S. Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill.