[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8578-8579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3439]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Regional Advisory Committees: Open Meetings

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Education.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings of regional advisory committees.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the schedule and agenda of the 
forthcoming public meetings of the Regional Advisory Committees (RACs). 
This notice contains a correction and supplement to the December 20, 
2004 (Monday) notice [Vol. 69, No. 243] concerning meetings of the RACs 
originally scheduled for March 2005. The previous notice indicated that 
Meeting 3 of each of the ten RACs would be conducted online on several 
selected dates in march for the purposes of deliberating and finalizing 
the education needs assessment reports for their regions. The 
referenced online meetings have been canceled. Instead, the RACs will 
meet in person in Houston, TX on March 10 and 11, 2005 to deliberate 
and finalize their education needs assessment reports. The general 
public is welcome to attend.
    Individuals who want to attend the meetings must send their name 
and contact information to the RAC Support Office at The CNA 
Corporation, 4825 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311, or at http://[email protected], by no later than Monday, March 7, 2005. Space is 
limited and, therefore, individuals planning to attend are advised to 
pre-register. Registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-
served basis up to the limits of the space available.
    For additional information relating to the role and 
responsibilities of the RACs, and activities carried out by each of the 
ten RACs, see the RAC Web site: http://www.rac-ed.org/.
    Notice of this meeting is required under section 10(a)(2) of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act accommodation. The meeting site is 
accessible to individuals with disabilities.
    The purposes of the open meetings are to:

[[Page 8579]]

    (1) Provide members of the (10) Regional Advisory Committees an 
extended amount of time together to review and discuss the reports that 
they will submit to the Secretary of Education on March 28, 2005.
    (2) Provide an opportunity for the public to observe and listen to 
RAC discussions on the top challenges in each region for improving 
student achievement.
    (3) Provide an opportunity for the public to observe and listen to 
RAC discussions on the top challenges to implementing the requirements 
of the No Child Left Behind Act in each region.
    (4) Provide an opportunity for the public to observe and listen to 
RAC discussions on recommendations for the types of technical 
assistance that would help states, districts and schools successfully 
address the critical educational challenges identified by each of the 
RACs.
    (5) Provide an opportunity for the public to observe and listen to 
discussions and recommendations from each of the ten RACs on the 
priorities for federally funded technical assistance in their region.

DATES: March 10, 2005, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and March 11, 2005 from 
8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Note: The Region 2 (Southwest), Regional Advisory 
Committee will meet only on Thursday, March 10, 2005 from 2 p.m. to 4 
p.m.

ADDRESSES: George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de la 
Americas, Houston, TX 77010. Tel: 800-427-4697.
    Minutes of the meetings will be available to the public online 
(http://www.rac-ed.org) within fourteen days of the meetings and for 
public inspection at the office of Georgette Joyner, The CNA 
Corporation, 4825 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311 between the 
hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Regional Advisory Committees are 
established under section 206 of the Educational Technical Assistance 
Act of 2002, (20 U.S.C. 9605). The RACs are to advise the Secretary by 
(1) conducting an educational needs assessment of each region described 
in section 174(b) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002; and (2) 
submitting reports for each region based on the regional assessments no 
later than 4 months after the committees are first convened.
    Individuals who will need accommodations for a disability in order 
to attend the meeting (i.e., interpreting services, assistive listening 
devices, materials in alternative format) should notify the RAC Support 
Office at The CNA Corporation by no later than Tuesday, March 1, 2005. 
We will attempt to meet requests after this date, but cannot guarantee 
availability of the requested accommodation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Enid Simmons, (202) 708-9499 or at 
[email protected].

    Dated: February 15, 2005.
Raymond Simon,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 05-3439 Filed 2-18-05; 8:45 am]
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