Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

It's Never Enough

  • By Jerry Enderle
  • 10/01/17

“It’s never enough.” Most of us have thought this, and even voiced it in frustration at some point when we were feeling overwhelmed. But once in a while it is simply a fact.

In mid-September, the EducationSuperHighway, a national non-profit focused on upgrading the Internet access in every public-school classroom in the U.S., released its “2017 State of the States” report. Since they began publishing annual reports in 2014, the number of U.S. students in K-12 public schools who have access to high-speed Internet at school has increased by 5.1 million — to more than 39 million. They also report that 94 percent of school districts nationwide now meet the minimum 100-kilobits-per-second (kbps)-per-student goal set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2014. So, overall, 39.2 million students, 2.6 million teachers, and 74,000 schools are now achieving the minimum connectivity goal that gives students equal access to digital learning opportunities. That sounds pretty good, right?

But, the fact is, it is not enough. Around 6.5 million students are still without access to high-speed Internet — a divide that is particularly wide in the 1,587 rural K-12 schools that don’t yet have the infrastructure necessary to provide this high-speed access, which in other parts of the country has revolutionized the way teachers teach and students learn.

According to Evan Marwell, CEO of EducationSuperHighway, the governors and state leaders across the country have played a crucial role in bringing high-speed learning opportunities to every classroom. In fact, he says that 46 governors have committed to upgrading access in their state’s public schools. Many have taken advantage of nearly $200 million in state matching funds for special construction that can help connect the hardest-to-reach-schools.

As of this report, eight states have successfully connected 100 percent of their schools to high-speed learning opportunities, opening a new chapter for each and every student.

So, in this case, “It’s never enough” may better serve as a mission statement. If we are to accomplish the goal of providing all students in the U.S. with high-speed Internet access by 2020, it is going to take a concerted effort. That is certainly a worthwhile cause.

(You can read the full report at stateofthestates.educationsuperhighway.org.)

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 New Product Awards

    Spaces4Learning is happy to announce that we’re now accepting entries for the 2026 New Product Awards! The awards program recognizes the outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are considered particularly noteworthy.

  • Utah Valley University Opens New Engineering Building

    Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, recently held a grand-opening ceremony for the new Scott M. Smith Engineering Building, according to a news release. The facility is one of the largest engineering buildings in the state at almost 200,000 square feet, and it plays home to the university’s Smith College of Engineering and Technology (SCET).

  • UT System Board of Regents Approves $108M Housing Complex

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently announced the approval of a new, $108-million housing complex at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), according to a news release. The facility will stand four stories and have a total of 456 new beds for freshmen students.