The Bush administration is stepping up federal efforts to prepare the nation’s schools for possible terrorist strikes and is about to announce a $60 million program to help school districts design response and evacuation plans for emergencies including chemical or biological attacks, administration officials said today. The officials said the program, which is expected to be made public on Friday by the Departments of Homeland Security and Education, was not meant to suggest that the government believed that schools faced a special threat from terrorists. They said instead that it was an effort to make sure that schools were as well prepared as other public and private places. A model emergency response plan that is expected to be released by the Education Department encourages schools, public and private alike, to develop a plan that “addresses traditional crises and emergencies such as fires, school shootings and accidents, as well as biological, radiological, chemical and other terrorist activities.” Full Story