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

FOR RELEASE Contact: David Thomas

February 26, 1998(202) 401-1576

Vice President Gore today applauded the progress America's schools are making in connecting to the Internet but urged increased efforts to ensure that all schools have equal access to the "information superhighway," and expressed concern that most classrooms still are not online.

Citing new data released today from the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Gore said: "We have made progress in reaching our goal of connecting all of the nation's schools and classrooms to the Internet by the year 2000. Nearly 80 percent of all K-12 schools are connected, but poor and rural schools are lagging behind. We have to do all we can to help them be a part of the nation's success, too."

According to the issue brief, Internet Access in Public Schools, the percentage of schools with Internet access has more than doubled, from 36 percent in 1994 to 78 percent in 1997. However, schools with 50 percent or more minority students, and schools with 71 percent or more poor students, lagged behind other schools. In addition, smaller schools were less likely to be connected.

In addition to Internet access at the school-building level, the survey collected information on the percentage of instructional rooms, including classrooms, computer or other labs, school libraries, and media centers that had Internet access. Overall, 27 percent of all instructional rooms had Internet access. Although this percentage has grown annually since 1994 when only three percent of instructional rooms were on the Internet, Gore reiterated that there are still too many schools and millions of students lacking tools to access the information age.

"It appears that we're well on our way to putting every school and classroom on the information superhighway by the new millennium," said Gore, who spoke before a U.S. Department of Commerce national conference titled Connecting All Americans for the 21st Century: Telecommunications Links in Low Income and Rural Communities. "But we have to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to access the vast, new resources of cyberspace via the Internet and other telecommunications. That's why the E-rate is a good idea and a timely one. The E-rate will help ensure equal access for all to the Internet."

The E-rate is a $2.25 billion annual fund created as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to ensure that all eligible schools and libraries in the U.S. have affordable access to modern telecommunications and information services.

"Since it opened its E-rate website January 30, the FCC has received nearly 19,000 applications from urban, suburban, and rural schools and libraries in every state and territory to receive discounts for telecommunications services," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. "The E-rate will prove to be an important tool for helping those from poor and rural communities gain access to the wealth of information and services from the information superhighway. It will enable almost three-fourths of all schools to get at least a 50 percent discount on a wide range of telecommunications."

The report further showed that large schools of 1,000 and high schools were most likely to be connected. In addition, Internet access increased most notably in the southeast and central regions of the U.S. from 1996 to 1997.

The survey was sent to a nationally representative sample of more than 900 public elementary and secondary schools in fall 1997. Data were collected on the prevalence of Internet access, the types of Internet capabilities schools make available, use of advanced telecommunications by schools and teachers, and sources of support for advanced telecommunications in schools.

The findings are a follow-up to similar surveys conducted in 1996, 1995 and 1994. The new report found:

• Internet access increased in the southeast and central regions, where it rose from 62 percent in 1996 to 84 percent in 1997 and 66 percent in 1996 to 79 percent in 1997, respectively;
• Overall, the percentage of instructional rooms with access to the Internet has increased from three percent in 1994 to eight percent in 1995, to 14 percent in 1996, and 27 percent in 1997; and,
• Data from the 1996 survey show that the most likely source of support was the school districts themselves, and the second most frequent source was state or federal government agencies.

The two-page issue brief is accessible at the Internet address: http://nces.ed.gov. Single copies also can be obtained by contacting the National Library of Education, (202) 219-1692.

This page last modified -- February 27, 1998 (bsf)