Nonprofit says 72 percent of schools lack broadband speeds needed to fully use the Internet

Elliston Elementary School in rural Montana is "on the wrong side of the new digital divide in this country," Lyndsey Layton writes for The Washington Post. Although they have laptops and whiteboards, the connection isn't fast enough for the teachers and students to utilize the many facets of technology such as videos, music, graphics and interactive programs. Rural schools aren't the only ones lacking adequate broadband. According to Education Superhighway, a nonprofit dedicated to improving digital access in schools, 72 percent of public schools—in the country, suburbs and cities—do not have adequate broadband speeds to fully access the Internet.

"Wiring schools has brought the Internet to the principal's office or maybe a teacher's desk," said Evan Marwell, the chief executive of the group. "But we need to move this technology into the learning process, and that means 55 million students." President Obama proposed that all public schools get high-speed broadband and wireless Internet within the next five years, Layton writes. He said, "In a country where we expect free wi-fi with our coffee, why shouldn't we have it in our schools?"

Under Obama's plan, the Department of Education would train teachers in technology implementation for classroom instruction. It could be funded by increasing E-rate, the extra charge the government added to telephone bills in 1997. E-rate also gives schools and libraries 20 percent to 90 percent discounts on telecommunication costs. The program has already helped bring schools up to date; at the start, 14 percent of schools had Internet access, and now 99 percent have it, according to the Obama administration, Layton writes.

But schools still need faster broadband to support multiple new devices like tablets and smartphones and education applications."There are amazing learning opportunities, ability to have access to engaging digital content, ability to connect to experts and learners around the country through the smart use of technology," said Richard Culatta, director of the Education Department's Office of Educational Technology.

Broadband improvements will become even more important with the addition of the Common Core academic standards in reading and math for grades K-12—which 45 states and the District of Columbia will implement—that will require the administration of online exams. "The primary issue is bandwidth," Jacqueline King of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, said. Plans to improve the situation include increasing the E-rate budget and keeping a closer eye on what exactly schools spend the money on. "Some experts say that federal government should consider a one-time investment to bring adequate broadband capacity to all schools," Layton writes. That could cost $11 billion. (Read more)