Partnership offers technology advantage to 25,000 students in rural Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2005) -- Approximately 25,000 students and their teachers in rural Florida will have access to SAS inSchool's award-winning, Web-based educational curriculum for the next two years, thanks to a grant made by Bank of America Charitable Investments to the Florida Learning Alliance Inc.

"Bank of America is proud to partner with the Florida Learning Alliance Inc. and SAS inSchool^® to bring much-needed resources to Florida students and teachers," said Tim Laney, Bank of America Florida president. "This initiative is about much more than software. It's about an innovative way to reach and teach Florida students - the very students who will become the future leaders of our country."

These rich online resources are correlated with Florida's Sunshine State Standards and will be distributed by the Florida Learning Alliance through its Access to Curriculum Excellence program. SAS inSchool creates Web-based teaching and learning curricula focusing on the core subjects taught in grades eight through 14, including English, Spanish, social studies, science and mathematics.

This grant is the latest in a series of donations by the private sector to provide Curriculum Pathways^® educational software resources from SAS inSchool. Two years ago, Bank of America Charitable Investments funded the use of the software for all secondary schools in North Carolina. Last year, the Wellman Family Foundation provided a grant to offer the software across the state of West Virginia, and SAS inSchool software was made available statewide in Wyoming through a partnership with EdGate.

SAS inSchool's standards-based resources are receiving growing acceptance across the country by middle schools, high schools, virtual schools, as well as community colleges and universities. The award-winning software offers a Web-based planning environment for teachers and promotes problem-solving and critical-thinking skills for students. This month, the Florida teachers who will have access to the technology will begin training in its use.

"We're extremely pleased to continue our partnership with Bank of America Charitable Investments in supporting education," said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. "These Florida students will be better prepared for the 21st century workplace thanks to the private sector stepping up and doing its part."

SAS inSchool won Technology & Learning magazine's Award of Excellence in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and was listed among Technology & Learning's Top Three Software Programs for 2001. The program offers Web-based, multimedia software, and educator learning and support services. For more information about SAS inSchool, visit www.SASinSchool.com.

About Bank of America Charitable Investments

With a $1.5 billion philanthropic goal over the next 10 years, Bank of America Charitable Investments is one of the largest corporate charitable organizations in the country and the largest private investor in Community Development Financial Institutions. The mission of Bank of America Charitable Investments group is to deploy a targeted array of philanthropic resources that help neighborhoods grow and prosper, thereby creating thriving environments where the bank's customers, associates and shareholders live, work and invest. For more information about Bank of America Charitable Investments, please visit the Foundation's Web site at http://www.bankofamerica.com/state.cgi?section=generic&update=&cookiecheck=yes
&destination=nba/foundation/index.cfm?template=overview.

About SAS inSchool

SAS inSchool was established in 1996 as a division of SAS Institute. SAS inSchool resources have been listed among the top software programs by the Gateway to Educational Materials, Technology & Learning, the Southern Regional Education Board, and other national consortia. For three years, SAS inSchool has won the Technology & Learning Award of Excellence. SAS inSchool offers Web-based instructional software for 208 topics, including more than 5,000 Web resources and 98 media-rich InterActivities. For more information, see www.SASinSchool.com.

About SAS

SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 40,000 sites - including 96 of the top 100 companies on the FORTUNE Global 500^® - to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For nearly three decades, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know^®. Visit us at www.sas.com.

About Florida Learning Alliance Inc.

The Florida Learning Alliance Inc. (FLA Inc.) is a non-profit corporation formed by Heartland Educational Consortium, North East Florida Educational Consortium, Panhandle Area Educational Consortium and Florida Virtual School. The purpose of FLA Inc. is to support increasing academic achievement primarily for students in small and rural districts through the identification, development, or acquisition of products, services and strategies. These may include, but are not limited to, curriculum, instruction, assessment, student and community services and staff development that have a technology-based component. For more information please visit www.flalearningalliance.org.