Page 6 - School Planning & Management, October 2017

EDITOR’S NOTE { THE VIEW FROM HERE } It‘s Never Enough
“I
were feeling overwhelmed. But once in a while it is simply a fact.
In mid-September, the EducationSuperHigh- way, a national non-profit focused on upgrading the Internet access in every public-school class-
room 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 Inter- net 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 par- ticularly 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 class- room. 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 per- cent 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.education superhighway.org.) SPM
Jerry Enderle Editor-In-Cheif jenderle@1105media.com
WEBSPM.COM
Volume 56, Issue 9
Editorial
GROUPPUBLISHER KarenCavallo EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JerryEnderle ASSISTANT EDITOR Brandon Barrett STAFF WRITERS Michael Fickes, Ellen Kollie
Art
ARTDIRECTOR LaurieLayman SENIORPRINTPRODUCTIONCOORDINATOR LeeAlexander
Advertising/Sales
T’S NEVER ENOUGH.” Most of us have thought this, and even voiced it in frustration at some point when we
INTEGRATED MEDIA CONSULTANT EASTERN U.S. & CANADA Patty Mutchler 724/652-5323 pmutchler@1105media.com
INTEGRATED MEDIA CONSULTANT WESTERN U.S. & CANADA Amy Bix 602/909-3910 abix@1105media.com
CHIEFEXECUTIVEOFFICER RajeevKapur CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Henry Allain CHIEFFINANCIALOFFICER CraigRucker CHIEFTECHNOLOGYOFFICER ErikA.Lindgren
EXECUTIVEVICEPRESIDENT MichaelJ.Valenti EXECUTIVECHAIRMAN JeffreyS.Klein
Infrastructure Solutions Group PRESIDENT&GROUPPUBLISHER KevinO’Grady AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Irene Fincher GROUPMARKETINGDIRECTOR SusanMay DIRECTOROFONLINEPRODUCTDEVELOPMENT MarlinMowatt GROUPSOCIALMEDIAEDITOR SydnyShephard
Reaching the Staff
Staff may be reached via email, telephone, fax or mail. A list of editors and contact information
is also available online at www.spaces4learning.com.
Email: To email any member of the staff, please use the following form: FirstinitialLastname@1105media.com
California Office (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. PT) 760/610-0800; Fax: 866/779-9095
Ohio Office (weekdays, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET) 937/550-9874; Fax: 678/868-1072
776 W. Central Ave., Springboro, OH 45066
Corporate Office (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. PT) 818/814-5200; Fax: 818/734-1522
9201 Oakdale Ave., Ste. 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311
Legal Disclaimer
The information in this magazine has not undergone any formal testing by 1105 Media, Inc. and is distributed without any warranty expressed or implied. Implementation of use of any information contained herein is the reader’s sole responsibility. While the information has been reviewed for accuracy, there is no guarantee that the same or similar results may be achieved in all environments. Technical inaccuracies may result from printing errors and/or new developments in the industry.
Media Kits
Direct your Media Kit requests to Brandon Barrett, 937/550-9874 ext. 101;
Fax: 678/868-1072; bbarrett@1105media.com
Reprints
For single article reprints (in minimum quantities of 250-500), e-prints, plaques and posters contact: PARS International Phone: 212/221-9595; 1105reprints@parsintl.com; www.1105Reprints.com
List Rental
This publication’s subscriber list, as well as other lists from 1105 Media, Inc., is available for rental. For more information, please contact our list manager, Jane Long, Merit Direct. 913/685-1301; jlong@meritdirect.com; www.meritdirect.com/1105
2012 AWARD WINNER
6 SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / OCTOBER 2017
WEBSPM.COM
I
F
3
0
E
0
2
N
A
L
I
S
T
D
D
I
S
R
A
T
I
W
N
A
G
T
N
U
E
M
I
S
V
E
I
H
H
E
D
A
C