Washington, D.C., January 27 - Forty education and business leaders from three Georgia communities met in Washington, D.C. this week to begin planning the startup of new public charter high schools. The new schools will replicate Coweta County's Central Educational Center (CEC) seamless education and workforce development model, which has proven equally successful in graduating students prepared to enter the workforce directly or to pursue a college degree.

Under a grant from the Georgia Department of Education, CEC will assist the districts in the replication of the CEC model through August of 2006. The communities participating in the project are Douglas, Walton, and Whitfield counties.

CEC is a unique partnership among Coweta County Schools, West Central Technical College, and business and industry. The school was begun to meet the needs of a 21st century economy by seamlessly weaving together secondary and postsecondary education and training with the needs of business and industry. Students can earn both high school and college credit simultaneously through CEC's dual-enrollment program, and they also connect directly with business through an innovative Work-Based Learning program.

"It has always been our goal to help other business-education community partnerships re-invent education with the CEC model," said Russ Moore, CEC's chief executive officer. "We've seen so many positive results from this program, particularly in the success and motivation of our students."

Since it opened in 2000, CEC has been named a National Model High School by an international consortium of educational organizations and has hosted hundreds of delegations from Georgia, most US states, and fourteen countries.

While in Washington, participants met with U. S. Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, as well as U. S. Representatives Lynn Westmoreland, David Scott, and Phil Gingrey.

The Academy for Educational Development, a nonprofit human and social development organization based in Washington, D.C., and Florida State University are key collaborators in the replication program.