[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 16 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Pages 677-679]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 12999--Educational Technology: Ensuring Opportunity for 
All Children in the Next Century

April 17, 1996

    In order to ensure that American children have the skills they need 
to succeed in the information-intensive 21st century, the Federal 
Government is committed to working with the private sector to promote 
four major developments in American education: making modern computer 
technology an integral part of every classroom; providing teachers with 
the professional development they need to use new technologies 
effectively; connecting classrooms to the National Information 
Infrastructure; and encouraging the creation of excellent educational 
software. This Executive order streamlines the transfer of excess and 
surplus Federal computer equipment to our Nation's classrooms and 
encourages Federal employees to volunteer their time and expertise to 
assist teachers and to connect classrooms.
    Accordingly, by the authority vested in me as President by the 
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the 
provisions of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, as 
amended (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), the Federal Property and 
Administrative Services Act of 1949, ch. 288, 63 Stat. 377, and the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, Public Law 104-
106, it is hereby ordered as follows:
    Section 1. Protection of Educationally Useful Federal Equipment. (a) 
Educationally useful Federal equipment is a vital national resource. To 
the extent such equipment can be used as is, separated into parts for 
other computers, or upgraded--either by professional technicians, 
students, or other recycling efforts--educationally useful Federal 
equipment is a valuable tool for computer education. Therefore, to the 
extent possible, all executive departments and agencies (hereinafter 
referred to as ``agencies'') shall protect and safeguard such equipment, 
par- 

[[Page 678]]

ticularly when declared excess or surplus, so that it may be recycled 
and transferred, if appropriate, pursuant to this order.
    Sec. 2. Efficient Transfer of Educationally Useful Federal Equipment 
to Schools and Nonprofit Organizations. (a) To the extent permitted by 
law, all agencies shall give highest preference to schools and nonprofit 
organizations, including community-based educational organizations, 
(``schools and nonprofit organizations'') in the transfer, through gift 
or donation, of educationally useful Federal equipment.
    (b) Agencies shall attempt to give particular preference to schools 
and nonprofit organizations located in the Federal enterprise 
communities and empowerment zones established in the Omnibus 
Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103-66.
    (c) Each agency shall, to the extent permitted by law and where 
appropriate, identify educationally useful Federal equipment that it no 
longer needs and transfer it to a school or nonprofit organization by:
        (1) conveying research equipment directly to the school or 
      organization pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 3710(i); or
        (2) reporting excess equipment to the General Services 
      Administration (GSA) for donation when declared surplus in 
      accordance with section 203(j) of the Federal Property and 
      Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, 40 U.S.C. 484(j). 
      Agencies shall report such equipment as far as possible in advance 
      of the date the equipment becomes excess, so that GSA may attempt 
      to arrange direct transfers from the donating agency to recipients 
      eligible under this order.
    (d) In transfers made pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section, 
title shall transfer directly from the agency to the schools or 
nonprofit organizations as required by 15 U.S.C. 3710(i). All such 
transfers shall be reported to the GSA. At the direction of the 
recipient institution or organization, and if appropriate, transferred 
equipment may be conveyed initially to a nonprofit reuse or recycling 
program that will upgrade it before transfer to the school or nonprofit 
organization holding title.
    (e) All transfers to schools or nonprofit organizations, whether 
made directly or through GSA, shall be made at the lowest cost to the 
school or nonprofit organization permitted by law.
    (f) The availability of educationally useful Federal equipment shall 
be made known to eligible recipients under this order by all practicable 
means, including newspaper, community announcements, and the Internet.
    (g) The regional Federal Executive Boards shall help facilitate the 
transfer of educationally useful Federal equipment from the agencies 
they represent to recipients eligible under this order.
    Sec. 3. Assisting Teachers' Professional Development: Connecting 
Classrooms. (a) Each agency that has employees who have computer 
expertise shall, to the extent permitted by law and in accordance with 
the guidelines of the Office of Personnel Management, encourage those 
employees to:
        (1) help connect America's classrooms to the National 
      Information Infrastructure;
        (2) assist teachers in learning to use computers to teach; and
        (3) provide ongoing maintenance of and technical support for the 
      educationally useful Federal equipment transferred pursuant to 
      this order.
    (b) Each agency described in subsection (a) shall submit to the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy, within 6 months of the date of 
this order, an implementation plan to advance the developments described 
in this order, particularly those required in this section. The plan 
shall be consistent with approved agency budget totals and shall be 
coordinated through the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
    (c) Nothing in this order shall be interpreted to bar a recipient of 
educationally useful Federal equipment from lending that equipment, 
whether on a permanent or temporary basis, to a teacher, administrator, 
student, employee, or other designated person in furtherance of 
educational goals.
    Sec. 4. Definitions. For the purposes of this order: (a) ``Schools'' 
means individual public or private education institutions en- 

[[Page 679]]

compassing prekindergarten through twelfth grade, as well as public 
school districts.
    (b) ``Community-based educational organizations'' means nonprofit 
entities that are engaged in collaborative projects with schools or that 
have education as their primary focus. Such organizations shall qualify 
as nonprofit educational institutions or organizations for purposes of 
section 203(j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act 
of 1949, as amended.
    (c) ``Educationally useful Federal equipment'' means computers and 
related peripheral tools (e.g., printers, modems, routers, and servers), 
including telecommunications and research equipment, that are 
appropriate for use in prekindergarten, elementary, middle, or secondary 
school education. It shall also include computer software, where the 
transfer of licenses is permitted.
    (d) ``Nonprofit reuse or recycling program'' means a 501(c) 
organization able to upgrade computer equipment at no or low cost to the 
school or nonprofit organization taking title to it.
    (e) ``Federal Executive Boards,'' as defined in 5 C.F.R. Part 960, 
are regional organizations of each Federal agency's highest local 
officials.
    Sec. 5. This order shall supersede Executive Order No. 12821 of 
November 16, 1992.
    Sec. 6. Judicial Review. This order is not intended, and should not 
be construed, to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
enforceable at law by a party against the United States, its agencies, 
its officers, or its employees.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
April 17, 1996.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 18, 
1996]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
April 19.