Washington, DC- The Computer & Communications Industry Association today announced its support for Senator Maria Cantwell’s S. 1 amendment, the “National Digital School Districts” amendment. The amendment authorizes $175 million (spread over three years) to create model schools, in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, to develop programs and curricula for meaningful uses of the web in the classroom.
CCIA is pleased to be one of the first supporters of this amendment, and the concept of model schools developing content for networked computing. The amendment reflects the same understanding of the needs of schools as well as the capabilities of the Internet that is found in CCIA’s recently released White Paper report entitled: The Federal Role in Education: Promoting Internet Technology to Advance Learning Opportunities (www.ccianet.org). CCIA calls for a focus on developing web-based educational content portals. By focusing on web-based content, school districts can provide material for all students anyplace, anytime, and on any device. This reduces costs for school districts and increases access for students.
“We are extremely happy by Senator Cantwell’s amendment and are pleased to support it. This amendment will create models that other schools can follow to help overcome the digital divide. Network based computing is cheaper to upgrade, and allows students to access it from just about anywhere,” said Ed Black, CCIA President & CEO.
Black continued: “This amendment is exceptional because it also provides the funding necessary to train teachers and develop meaningful content. Without the proper materials and teachers trained to use it, no amount of technology is going to help students. We are encouraged by Senator Harkin’s support of the amendment, and we hope the rest of the Senate will see the opportunity presented here and support the amendment as well.”