A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Testimony of the Secretary of Education

In the matter of	        ) The Federal-State Joint Board	)	CC Docket No. 96-45 on Universal Service		) 

Statement of Principle

This is no time to think short term. Our elementary and secondary schools and libraries must have access to telecommunications services to provide quality education to our children, now and in the future. Access to telecommunications brings the resources of the best libraries, museums, universities, and research into local classrooms and libraries, no matter where they are located. It expands access to education for those living in rural or impoverished areas. Because a quality education is essential to each citizen for participation in the changing economy, and essential to our country's democratic way of life, the Clinton Administration has set a goal of having every classroom and library in the Nation connected to the Internet by the year 2000.

The connection between telecommunications access and student performance is compelling. Telecommunications technologies are helping students to master basic skills such as writing, and to learn advanced skills for college and the workplace. I have seen how these technologies are providing access to courses that would otherwise be unavailable -- from rural areas in North Carolina to the suburbs of Illinois, and from the neighborhoods of San Francisco to small towns in Kentucky. Universal service and affordable connections for schools and libraries, then, have long-term implications for educational quality.

Unfortunately, there is a huge gap between need and availability. Today, few classrooms and libraries are connected. The costs of initial connections, charges for ongoing service, and a lack of necessary infrastructure in school and library buildings are barriers to more widespread educational use.

Nevertheless, reaching every school and library by the year 2000 is an achievable goal. Classroom access to the Internet tripled in just one year, from 3 percent in 1994 to nine percent in 1995. [1] Moreover, a range of technologies, from telephone lines to coaxial cable to wireless networks and direct broadcast satellite, can be deployed to connect our students, teachers, library users, and librarians to the vast resources of the information superhighway.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides an opportunity to improve education over the long term, by expanding the concept of universal service to include schools and libraries, and through provisions that call for affordable services. The recommendations of the Joint Board will set in place policies that will affect affordability and access not just for this generation of children but for many years to come. The FCC and state regulators should, therefore, make sure that telecommunications services are available in the schools and libraries that are least able to afford them. This will mean discounts in some cases, and free services in others. I look forward to working with the Joint Board in the months ahead as it develops its recommendations for schools and libraries.

The Benefits of Telecommunications Access in Schools and Libraries

A decade of research on the use of telecommunications in classroom settings demonstrates that these tools contribute to increased educational achievement, support teachers' work, create new kinds of learning opportunities, and improve the administration of schools.

• Writings produced by students for transmission to other students over a network tend to be of higher quality than those produced for in-class use only. [2]

• One- and two-way distance learning has expanded access to the core curriculum. Students in remote schools that could previously afford only bare bones course listings can watch live transmissions or videotaped recordings of classes being offered in other areas. In many cases the instruction they experience is superior to that available in conventional classrooms because the distance learning courses are designed for broad distribution and can attract exceptional teachers and content experts. The academic achievement of students in these courses is comparable to in-class learners. [3]

• Students can solve real-world problems with telecommunications. For example, students at an elementary school in Texas measured levels of carbon dioxide in their school's classrooms that were higher than normal. They used access to a computer network to consult with an environmental scientist on their experiment, and later distributed the results of the experiment to other schools via the network. Their project resulted in action by the school board to fix the school's ventilation system, and students in other schools conducted the same experiment.

• Learners with disabilities benefit from access to telecommunications networks. Hearing- impaired students, for example, can relate with distant peers through telecommunications despite their disability. [4] Through speak-text, visually impaired students have more equitable access to information.

• Teachers use telecommunications networks to break down the isolation of the classroom. By bouncing ideas off peers and sharing experiences and resources with like-minded colleagues across the country, teachers gain in enthusiasm, confidence, and competence. [5]

• The State of Texas realized substantial efficiencies when it moved to a network-based system for communicating with school districts across the state.

[3]Moore, M.G., and Thompson, M.M., The Effects of Distance Learning: A Summary of the Literature, Southeastern Ohio Telecommunications Consortium, 1990; Kitchen, W., Education and Telecommunications: Partners in Progress, testimony before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, March 11, 1987.

[4] Riel, M., "AT&T Learning Circles," presentation at the Symposium in Technology and Social Interaction Technology and Media Conference, 1992.

[5] Ringstaff et al., Trading Places: When Teachers Utilize Student Expertise in Technology- Intensive Classrooms, Cupertino, CA: Apple Computer, 1991.

• In Clinton, Iowa, library users can locate more than 1,500 job listings throughout the state via an electronic bulletin board. California, North Carolina and numerous other states offer access to job listings through libraries.

• In Maryland, residents can obtain online travel advisories and job listings at their homes, schools and businesses via the federally-funded Sailor project which provides statewide access to the Internet via libraries.

• In Louisiana, every parish library system has at least one computer connected to LANET (Louisiana Wide Area Network), making it possible for citizens anywhere in the state to access library materials held in other locations.

• In Oregon and Washington, citizens use PORTALS, a multi state library consortium, to make more than 13,000 accesses per week to government information, including U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Education reports.

The Definition of Services Essential to Education

Schools and libraries are beginning to use more advanced applications of telecommunications, such as broadband connections. For example, Guilford County, North Carolina has connected all of its classrooms with fiber optics to enable them to use broadcast-quality distance learning. While the evidence of benefits is not as complete for newer applications, the existing evidence suggests that they are powerful tools for learning. Therefore, it is important that the Joint Board have a broad definition of services. Schools and libraries need access not to the most basic telecommunications services, but to advanced ones as well. The Joint Board should consider the services now being used by the most advanced schools and libraries when it defines the services to be eligible for discounts.

Access is Limited

Many private sector firms have increasingly used information technology to stay competitive in the world marketplace. However, schools and libraries currently use telecommunications services much less than other types of organizations. Most of these institutions have telephone lines for administrative use only. In 1993, only 12 percent of classrooms had telephone lines. [6] In fact, school and library access to telecommunications today is much like the nation's access to telephones before the passage of the 1934 Communications Act. Clearly, schools and libraries have much to gain from greater access to telecommunications.

The National Center for Education Statistics completed a representative sample survey of public schools in 1995, indicating that access to advanced telecommunications in today's schools is growing quickly, yet it is both limited and unevenly distributed. [7] (A copy of this survey is attached.)

• Fifty percent of schools have access to the Internet in at least one point in the building, up from 35 percent one year earlier. This point of connection might be an administrative office, a library, or a computer laboratory.

• Nine percent of classrooms have an Internet connection, up from 3 percent one year earlier.

• Only 31 percent of schools with large proportions of students from poor families have access to the Internet, while 62 percent of schools with relatively few students from poor families have access somewhere in the building. Only half as many classrooms in low-income areas (5 percent) have connections compared to other areas, which have 8 to 10 percent of classrooms connected.

Evidence from surveys show that access to telecommunications in libraries and homes are also limited.

• The 1994 National Commission on Libraries and Information Science national sample survey of U.S. public libraries showed that 20.9 percent of public libraries are connected to the Internet. [8]

• The American Library Association found in a 1995 survey that only 23 percent of public libraries serving populations of 100,000 or more offer public access to the Internet. [9]

• A 1995 study by the U.S. Department of Commerce found that Americans living in rural areas and central cities are least likely to possess computers and modems. This study also found that fewer than one in three U.S. households own a computer and only 10 percent own a modem required for online access, indicating that 90 percent would benefit from having access through their local libraries. [10]

[9] American Library Association, Libraries Today, Chicago: 1995.

[10] U.S. Department of Commerce, Falling Through the Net: A Survey of the "Have Nots" in Rural and Urban American. Washington, DC: July 1995.

Cost is a Key Barrier to Increased Access

Recent surveys indicate that the cost of telecommunications connections and services is a formidable barrier to use in schools and libraries.

• The 1995 National Center for Education Statistics survey indicated that funding is the greatest barrier to the use of advanced telecommunications. Fifty-five percent of all public schools listed a lack of funding specifically allocated to telecommunications as "a major barrier." The second largest barrier was a lack of telecommunications access points, such as telephone jacks, in school buildings -- a problem also related to cost.

• In a 1996 survey of members, the National Association of Secondary School Principals discovered that fully one hundred percent listed funding as an obstacle to developing and implementing a technology plan. One principal noted, "funding, funding, funding! We have the vision and the plan -- we need money and resources to implement our vision. [11]

• A survey of 30 district superintendents conducted by the American Association of School Administrators in 1996 also listed money as the chief barrier to implementing technology use. [12]

• The 1994 National Commission on Libraries and Information Science national sample survey of U.S. public libraries found that several factors affect public library involvement with the Internet; in particular, the key factors are the cost of an Internet connection, closely followed by adequate time for library staff to develop expertise in using the Internet. [13]

[12] American Association of School Administrators, Report on Responses to Goals 2000 Technology Survey, presentation to the Goals 2000 Technology Work Group, 1996.

[13] McClure, Charles R., Bertot, John Carlo, Zweizig, and Douglas, L. Public Libraries and the Internet: Study Results, Policy Issues and Recommendations, Final Report, Washington, DC: National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, June 1994.

The Technology Literacy Challenge

While telecommunications connections are a necessary step for schools, they are by no means sufficient to give students the skills they need for work and life in the rapidly-approaching new century. In order to make all children technologically literate by the dawn of the 21st Century, President Clinton has challenged the private sector, schools, teachers, parents, students, community groups, state and local governments, and the federal government to accomplish four goals.

• Provide all teachers with the training and support they need to help students learn through computers and the information superhighway;

• Develop effective and engaging software and on-line learning resources as an integral part of the school curriculum;

• Provide access to modern computers for all teachers and students;

• Connect every school and classroom in America to the information superhighway.

The $2 billion, five year Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, proposed in the President's 1997 budget, will catalyze and leverage State and local efforts -- including work with the private sector -- so that schools provide children across America with a greater opportunity to learn the skills they need to succeed in school, on the job, and in the community.

In order to receive funds, states are asked to come forward with a statewide strategy to meet this four-part national mission, but they are given maximum flexibility to accomplish these objectives. The initiative is designed to support many efforts already underway in states and communities across the country.

The goal of connections, and the larger objective of technological literacy for all students, are of great concern to Americans. Eighty percent of Americans feel that teaching students computer skills is "absolutely essential. [14] Governors, state legislatures and local communities have major technology initiatives underway.

Conclusion

A remarkable opportunity lies before the FCC and the Joint Board. Through your actions, it is possible that our children and grandchildren will have available at their fingertips the best quality information in the world. Meeting the goal of connecting every classroom and library to the information highway will require a partnership between the FCC and state regulatory authorities. It will also require a commitment from school and library boards, telecommunications providers, teachers, librarians, administrators, and parents. Providing a quality education is our common responsibility and is absolutely necessary to bring us together as Americans and to prepare our students to compete in the international marketplace of skills, jobs, and commerce. If we invest in education today -- all of our schools and libraries -- we invest in the economic future of the nation.