DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
TEACH Competitive Grants 275.109
TEACH Block Grant 275.110
I. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
Technology for Educational Achievement (TEACH) Wisconsin provides support for investments in educational technology and telecommunications. Wisconsin’s schools, libraries, cooperative educational service agencies (CESAs), charter schools, secured juvenile correctional facilities, private colleges, tribal colleges, and technical colleges are all served by TEACH. TEACH Wisconsin assists educational institutions as they seek to:
- Access technical and communication resources to improve teaching and learning;
- Accelerate the use of technology to allow students to learn without the barriers of distance and time; and
- Collaborate technology efforts with other educational agencies.
II. PROGRAM PROCEDURES
TEACH Wisconsin provides educational technology block grants to public school districts, Milwaukee charter schools, and secured juvenile correctional facilities, to accelerate their investments in educational technology. The grants, which are outside school district revenue limits, offer a flexible source of funds to meet the educational technology needs of each school district. Block grants may be used for any educational technology purpose excluding the salaries and benefits of school district employees. In order to receive a block grant, schools must submit a resolution to the TEACH Board annually.
The TEACH Wisconsin Board is authorized to spend up to $8 million in competitive grants during 1999-2001 for projects aimed at ensuring that Wisconsin's educators are capable of using the educational technologies being installed and supported by TEACH effectively in the K-12 classroom. These competitive grants are for teacher training and technical assistance activities to Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs) or to collaborations of CESAs, public school districts, and/or public libraries. An additional $8 million has been allocated for 2001-2003.
III. COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS AND SUGGESTED AUDIT PROCEDURES
A. TYPES OF SERVICES ALLOWED AND UNALLOWED
Compliance requirement
TEACH Block Grant monies cannot be used for salaries or benefits, cannot supplant existing district funds for telecommunications and other educational technologies, and must be used to purchase, support, or train on these telecommunications/educational technologies.
Suggested Audit Procedures
Test a sample of TEACH expenditures to ensure district compliance with TEACH guidelines. Inquire of district personnel how these funds supplement and not supplant the district’s normal operating budget.
Compliance requirement
The TEACH Training and Technical Assistance grant program funds only those activities covered in a grant proposal submitted in response to a TEACH request for proposal. These grants are awarded in the form of a ‘contract’ which is monitored over the life of the grant for compliance with the activities they said they would do in this proposal.
Suggested Audit Procedures
Review the TEACH contract to determine the activities that the participating schools have planned and determine compliance by reviewing costs incurred and their purposes.
B. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
There are no reporting requirements necessary to test.