AT&T Awards Nearly $800,000 to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in Philadelphia,...

AT&T Awards Nearly $800,000 to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in
Philadelphia, Prepare Students for Success

PHILADELPHIA, April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Calling Philadelphia's
dropout crisis a problem that will require the entire community's efforts to
help solve, J. Michael Schweder, president of AT&T Pennsylvania, today joined
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, School District of Philadelphia
Superintendent Dr. Arlene Ackerman, Philadelphia's Chief Education Officer Dr.
Lori Shorr, Dr. Ira Harkavy from the University of Pennsylvania's Netter
Center, and students from Sayre High School to announce nearly $800,000 in
grants to programs in the City of Philadelphia that will help address high
school success and workforce readiness for Philadelphia students.

The Philadelphia Children's First Fund will receive nearly $400,000 over the
next four years to help schools with significant at-risk student populations,
and the University of Pennsylvania will receive $300,000 over three years to
expand a college access and career readiness program for freshmen at Sayre
High School as part of the AT&T Aspire initiative. AT&T Pennsylvania also
awarded a $35,000 contribution to the Mayor's Office to help support a new
Graduation Coaches initiative his office is launching and a $40,000
contribution to Let's Get Ready (LGR), a program at the University of
Pennsylvania that is running an intensive SAT and college preparation program
in Philadelphia for high school juniors and seniors.

"With nearly one-third of U.S. high school students dropping out of school, or
one student dropping out every 26 seconds, there are few higher priorities we
should have," said Schweder. "Mayor Nutter and his community partners are
working on an aggressive plan to help reverse these numbers, and these grants
are one way we can help him and the entire City of Philadelphia take on this
challenge and prepare Philadelphia's children for success."

Mayor Nutter has made dropout prevention and education reform pillars of his
administration.

"Continuing our progress on increasing Philadelphia's high school graduation
rate is critical to this city's future success and will require all of us to
work together towards this common goal," said Mayor Michael Nutter. "I want
to commend AT&T for its leadership, generosity, and investment in tomorrow's
workforce."

Added Superintendent Ackerman: "We are very grateful to AT&T for their
support and commitment to education. The AT&T Foundation is making an extra
ordinary investment in our schools that translates into direct support for our
students. With this grant AT&T has brought together corporate, foundation,
government, and higher education resources to improve the lives of our
children."

The University of Pennsylvania's Netter Center for Community Partnerships will
provide a comprehensive program of academic, career and college support for a
cohort of Sayre students from 9th through 12th grade, both during the school
day and out of school. The program will also provide additional college
access and career activities for students across the school. The Netter
Center's College Access And Career Readiness Program works closely with Let's
Get Ready and its Penn student mentors to provide 12th graders at Sayre and in
the community with SAT preparation and college application support.

"This partnership will benefit not only Sayre students and the Sayre
community, but also Penn students and the Penn community as we learn and work
together," said Dr. Ira Harkavy, Director of Penn's Netter Center. "Improving
high school success and workforce readiness requires significant partnerships,
and this partnership is mutually beneficial. It connects our academic and
service missions as well as to the resources and knowledge we have as an
employer."

The grants to the Philadelphia Children's First Fund and the University of
Pennsylvania are part of the AT&T Foundation's signature initiative, AT&T
Aspire, which helps address high school success and workforce readiness. AT&T*
has committed $100 million in philanthropy through 2011 to schools and
nonprofit organizations that are focused on high school retention and better
preparing students for college and the workforce. The two recipients are among
more than 170 schools and nonprofit organizations that received grants in the
first year of the program.

The recipients of this year's High School Success grants provide a range of
support for students, including academic intervention, academic coaching and
mentoring and tutoring services that are focused on improving reading and math
skills, reducing truancy and building teen confidence. The recipient programs
are managed by a variety of governmental and nonprofit organizations,
including school districts, townships and education-serving nonprofit
organizations.

As one of the largest-ever corporate commitments to high school retention and
workforce readiness, the $100 million AT&T Aspire program supports proven
programs that promote educational success, from the classroom to the
workplace. In addition to the high school retention program grants, AT&T
Aspire is funding initiatives in three key areas:
-- A student job shadowing initiative involving 400,000 AT&T employee
hours that will give 100,000 students a firsthand look at the skills
they will need to succeed in the 21st century workforce.
-- The underwriting of national research that will explore the
practitioner
perspective (teachers, principals, superintendents, school counselors
and school board members) on the high school dropout issue.

-- Support for 100 state and community dropout prevention summits,
including programs in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and a statewide
summit last year in Harrisburg, in partnership with America's
Promise Alliance.

In addition to the High School Success grants awarded to organizations in
Philadelphia, Communities in Schools of Pittsburgh-Allegheny County also
received a $100,000 grant from AT&T to support its dropout-prevention and
workforce readiness programs. All told, In 2008, AT&T and its employees
contributed approximately $1,200,000 through corporate, employee and AT&T
Foundation giving programs in Pennsylvania.

For more information about the AT&T Aspire initiative, please visit
www.att.com/education-news.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and
affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its
subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of
AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings
are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services, the
nation's fastest 3G network and the best wireless coverage worldwide, and the
nation's leading high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic
markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales
leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T
brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As
part of their three-screen integration strategy, AT&T operating companies are
expanding their TV entertainment offerings. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1
in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE(R) magazine's list of the
World's Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the
products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is
available at http://www.att.com.

About Philanthropy at AT&T
For 25 years, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation have been committed to advancing
education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its
philanthropic initiatives and partnerships, AT&T supports projects that create
learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; and address
community needs. As the AT&T Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary in
2009, more than $160 million was contributed through corporate-, employee- and
AT&T Foundation-giving programs in 2008 alone.

(C) 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo
and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual
Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

Dan Langan, +1-717-571-1743, dan@langanpublicaffairs.com, for AT&T; or
Fernando Gallard of School District of Philadelphia, +1-215-400-6349,
fagallard@philasd.org; or Luke Butler of Mayor Nutter's Office,
+1-215-686-6210, Luke.butler@phila.gov; or Julie McWilliams of University of
Pennsylvania, +1-215-898-1422, juliemcw@upenn.edu