[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.