Huge
gains have been made in classroom connectivity, but work still remains to be
done, according to the 2017 State of the States report from EducationSuperHighway,
a nonprofit headquartered in San Francisco that serves as an advocate and
consultant for states and school districts to obtain high-speed Internet access
for all classrooms.
In
2013, 40 million students were unable to meet the Federal Communications
Commission’s 100 kilobits-per-second minimum connectivity goal for digital
learning. As of this year, that number has been reduced to 6.5 million
students, with 748 districts still requiring upgrades to effectively use the
Internet in their classrooms. EducationSuperHighway’s goal is to have every
student in the country connected by 2020.
Responding
to a Funds For Learning survey, almost 80% of school districts and libraries
credited the federal E-rate program for their faster Internet connections.
E-rate is shorthand for the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal
Service Fund, administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co. under
direction of the FCC. The largest federally funded education program, it gives
discounts to help schools and libraries secure affordable and safe
telecommunications and Internet access.
In
addition to E-rate, EducationSuperHighway noted that 46 state governors are supporting
legislation to improve affordability, increase fiber-optic connections, and get
Wi-Fi into every classroom.
“Access
to high-speed Internet is no longer considered a luxury but a basic necessity
for 21st-century learning,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf stated in the report.
