Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton Secures $497,050 Appropriation
for the C.W. Post/Westbury Public Schools’ Comer School Reform Project

Consistent with her long-time role as a child and education advocate, United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has secured a $497,050 federal appropriation for the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University (Brookville, NY) to support its on-going school reform program in the Westbury Public Schools, it was announced today, March 29, 2004. The funding will enable C.W. Post School of Education professors to continue to work with district faculty and administrators to bolster student academic achievement in literacy and language development at the middle and high school levels.

The joint initiative, which began in 1998, has contributed to gains in student performance, including climbing test scores and an increase in the number of Westbury teenagers attending college. For example, Westbury’s intermediate and middle schools all qualified for the status of "most improved" based on New York State Education Department standards, which compare achievement growth from 1999 to 2003. This year, Westbury Middle School had the greatest gains in English Language Arts in Nassau County.

The Westbury Public Schools serve a diverse population of approximately 4,039 students from varied ethnic and economic backgrounds. The funding is designed to advance the literacy skills of students for whom English is their second language. The program will provide comprehensive professional development for middle and high school teachers of math, science, social studies and English to address the special needs of these students. Staff development will focus on the implementation of specialized teaching techniques that take into consideration the need for cross-cultural communication with the goal of assisting students in better comprehending the respective subject matter.

The C.W. Post School of Education teamed up with the Yale University School Development Program and Westbury Public Schools six years ago to establish a long-term school-university partnership within the framework of the "Comer School Development Program" created by James P. Comer, the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center. The Comer Process is based on Dr. Comer’s vision of healthy child development as the keystone to academic achievement and life success. The program, which centers on Comer’s philosophy that, "it takes a village to raise a child," promotes the collaboration of parents, educators and community to improve social, emotional and academic outcomes for children, which in turn helps them achieve greater success at school.

"I am so pleased that I was able to secure these funds to further support the important work being done at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and the students they serve in the Westbury Public Schools," Senator Clinton said. "Achievement in literacy and language development is critical to the success of all of our students. The work that is being done through this wonderful collaboration is a model for schools everywhere," she added.

According to Dr. Jeffrey Kane, Vice President for Academic Affairs for Long Island University, "We are indebted to Senator Clinton for her support toward keeping this national school reform model alive and helping advance it to the next level. Our mission is to create a seamless collaboration between Westbury’s public school teachers and C.W. Post teacher-education faculty all focused on English language and literacy training with high-quality instruction in all subject areas."

"The Westbury staff and Board of Education are extremely appreciative of the support Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has provided to the School Development Model," said Dr. Constance Clark, Superintendent of Schools for the Westbury Public Schools. "This model has been the systematic catalyst for moving the Westbury Public Schools forward. We anticipate that this support will further strengthen our partnership with the C.W. Post Campus School of Education, and assist in the expansion of literacy training and language fluency for all of our students."

The C.W. Post/Yale University/Westbury Public Schools partnership was initiated to assist the school district in strengthening teaching, curriculum, community support and parental involvement in ways that will lead to increased success for the children in the district. Funded in the initial stages by the Rockefeller Foundation, an anonymous donor and Verizon Corporation, the program provides improved educational opportunities for Westbury children, as well as excellent opportunities for C.W. Post education students to gain first-hand experience in an important national school reform activity in a complex multicultural community near the campus. The project has included teacher-training programs, literacy development, technology improvements, leadership training, career development, and other educational events for Westbury students and faculty.

Senator Clinton is a member of the United States Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where she has sponsored or co-sponsored several bills geared toward improving education in the United States. She is the author of the 1995 book "It Takes a Village: and Other Lessons Children Teach Us." In June 2003, she released the book, "Living History," which became a best seller.

The School of Education at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University offers one of the widest ranges of teacher education, counseling and administration programs in New York State. The School offers more than 90 bachelor’s, master’s, dual degree and certificate programs that focus on various stages of a child’s development as well as specialty programs in special education, autism, literacy, educational technology, health and physical education, communication sciences and disorders, counseling development and school district administration.

For more information about the C.W. Post/Yale University/Westbury Public Schools partnership, contact program director Dr. Estelle Kamler 516-299-3727 or estelle.kamler@liu.edu or Mary Mayrick 516-876-5130 or mmayrick@westburyschools.org or Nina Blackwell at 212-688-9559.

From Left: Dr. Joseph Shenker, Provost, C.W. Post Campus; Senator Hillary Clinton, Ambar Arancibia, Westbury High School Valedictorian; Dr. James Comer of Yale University	From left: Dr. Joseph Shenker, Provost, C.W. Post Campus; Westbury High School Valedictorian Ambar Arancibia; Theresa Mall Mullarkey, Chancellor, C.W. Post Campus; Dr. David Steinberg, President, Long Island University; Dr. Jeffrey Kane, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Long Island University.
Senator Clinton addressing Westbury and C.W. Post faculty, administrators and students.	C.W. Post education students with Senator Clinton.
From left: Dr. David Steinberg, President, Long Island University; Dr. Robert Pickney, former Superintendent of Westbury Public Schools; Dr. Jeffrey Kane, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Long Island University; Dr. Edward T. Joyner, Executive Director of the School Development Program at the Yale Child Study Center; Dr. Joseph Shenker, Provost, C.W. Post Campus;  Dr. Robert Manheimer, Dean, C.W. Post School of Education; Dr. Constance Clark, Superintendent of Schools, Westbury School District; Dr. James P. Comer, the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center; Dr. Estelle Kamler, C.W. Post Professor of Education.