GOVERNOR RILEY VISITS HIGH SCHOOLS IN NORTH AND SOUTH ALABAMA TO PROMOTE FUNDING INCREASE FOR ACCESS DISTANCE LEARNING

The following information was released by the office of the governor of Alabama:

Governor Bob Riley visited high schools in Madison and Mobile counties on Wednesday as he continued promoting a funding increase for Alabama's distance learning initiative.

The tour comes as the Governor prepares the education budget he will present to the Legislature in February. The distance learning initiative - called ACCESS - is working to connect students to new learning opportunities and deserves a funding increase, Governor Riley says.

"ACCESS provides Alabama's students more educational opportunities than ever before. Now our job is to make sure more students benefit from ACCESS, and that's why I'll propose a funding increase for it," said Governor Riley.

As of this month, 23,000 students in 170 high schools across the state have ACCESS. Governor Riley wants to increase funding for the initiative and expand it to more schools.

ACCESS, which stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide, puts high-end interactive video conferencing technology in participating schools so students can be connected in real-time with teachers in classrooms at other locations across the state. The program also offers asynchronous courses over the Internet. Offering classes through video conferencing and the Internet provides local school systems with greater flexibility to meet school and student needs, Governor Riley said.

At Madison County High School in Gurley, the Governor participated in an Algebra II and Trigonometry class that was also being taught by video conferencing to students at Colbert County High School and Paint Rock High School in Jackson County.

During his visit to Mary G. Montgomery High School in Mobile County, Governor Riley sat in on a General Psychology class that was simultaneously being taught to students at Greensboro East High School in Hale County.

"If we truly want our children to have a world-class education system, then we must offer them opportunities to take a variety of important courses regardless of where they go to school. ACCESS distance learning does exactly that. It uses 21st century technology to bring courses like advanced math, science and language classes that many schools can't offer," said Governor Riley.

Funding for ACCESS in the Fiscal Year 2008 education budget is $20.3 million. Governor Riley wants to increase funding for this program that works and will propose an increase in the budget he submits to the Legislature in February.

For more contact information, visit Governor Bob Riley's Web Site: http://www.governor.alabama.gov/

For videos of Governor Bob Riley visit: http://www.media.alabama.gov/