Sacramento, CA…Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today applauded the California Office to Reform Education’s (CORE) commitment to advance his ground-breaking free Digital Textbook and Technology Initiative to help ensure a technologically advanced education system for California’s students. CORE is the non-profit organization established to carry out bold education reforms under the state’s Race to the Top application. The Governor also announced that the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation will provide funding to CORE to launch a digital academic assessment pilot program in participating school districts.

“I am so proud that California is leading the way in digital textbooks and using technology to transform public education,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I applaud our visionary school district leaders in CORE who have committed to meet the changing needs of California’s students in the 21st Century.”

To advance the Governor’s Digital Textbook and Technology Initiative, CORE will partner with top education technology leaders, leading publishers, philanthropic foundations and reform-minded school districts across the state. School districts and teachers will be invited to join this partnership to expand the use of education technology by developing and adopting digital resources for use in the classroom to increase achievement for all students.

“We deeply appreciate Governor Schwarzenegger’s leadership and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s support of CORE and the students in our districts,” said Mike Hanson, President of CORE and Superintendent of the Fresno Unified School District. “The Governor’s initiative and this grant will help ensure that all of our students are college and career ready through the use of digital resources.”

“The smart use of technology in education can both save money and make educational materials available to those who otherwise could not afford them,” said Barbara Chow, director of the education program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. “We at Hewlett think that open educational resources, which make textbooks and other educational materials available for free sharing and reuse, are one of those smart uses. Since these resources can be customized for different school environments, it also makes them helpful for supporting common core educational standards.”