David Blount, Editor

Digital Divide

The Digital Divide issue briefing explores important questions about student and teacher access to technology and the sufficiency of resources provided to schools to support this access. Like the issue of school construction funding, access to and funding of educational technology has garnered much legislative attention in the 1990s.

The General Assembly signaled great interest in educational technology in public schools with 1994 approval of SJ 157, which established a special legislative committee to study funding and dissemination of education technology in Virginia. The group’s work continued in 1995, the same year the General Assembly approved HB 2542, known as the Omnibus Educational Act. Included in the act was a General Assembly finding that educational technology “is one of the most important components, along with highly skilled teachers, in ensuring the delivery of quality public school education throughout the Commonwealth.” This bill provided the statutory framework for funding of more than $60 million in the 1994-96 budget to automate library media centers, first at the middle and high school levels, and then at elementary schools.

HB 512, approved in 1996, further amended the Omnibus Educational Act to establish the state’s educational technology funding goals, consistent with those components of the Board of Education’s revised six-year technology plan, emphasizing school retrofitting, a five-to-one ratio of pupils to computers, and teacher training. The 1996-98 budget included more than $100 million for meeting these goals. Two new commissions in 1996, the Commission on the Future of Public Education and the Commission on Educational Infrastructure, were both charged with examining curriculum and instructional materials and educational technology needs. Several recommendations from the Infrastructure Commission were enacted in 1997, among them HB 1835, which allowed Literary Fund loans to be used for educational technology. HB 1848 required local teacher training in educational technology and higher education guidelines for ensuring that all graduates have technology skills. Other approved bills called for technology resource assistants in elementary schools and established a technology replacement program. However, no funding was approved for these programs.

Approved in 1998, HB 1340 is credited with further enhancing the importance of educational technology by transferring reference to the Board of Education’s technology plan to the Standards of Quality. The new two-year budget contained $50 million for continuing the goals established in 1996. Flexibility to hire technology specialists also was allowed with additional funding provided for lowering elementary school class sizes. The General Assembly also decided that year it was time to step back and assess progress that had been made and look to the future. It did so through budget language requiring the Department of Education to analyze the status of educational technology availability and usage in each public school, and through HJ 176 . In 1999, HB 2241 established, but did not fund, the Virginia Public School Educational Technology Grants Program to provide grants to eligible school divisions for educational technology, including infrastructure, software, and hardware acquisitions and replacement. A $113 million Standards of Learning Technology initiative was included in the 2000-2002 budget, to establish a computer-based instructional and testing system for the SOL and for technology infrastructure. An additional $4.8 million ($26,000/high school) was included for hiring technology resource assistants in high schools. To gain an understanding of local spending on educational technology, the Department of Education was required to collect data on educational technology expenditures as part of the Annual School Report

This year, the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) is studying ways to close the digital divide, the gap (social, economic, educational, political) between those with access to technology and those without, and the ramifications of failure to close this gap. The Commission on Educational Infrastructure and Technology is charged with developing a formula for funding educational technology and technology support personnel. Recommendations from these two groups could include specific legislative and/or budget proposals. Finally, with the recent focus on technology, in both the Standards of Learning, and through revisions to the Standards of Quality on incorporating proficiency in the use of computers into the instructional program, it is likely that additional legislation will be proposed to address any potential difficulties faced by the state and local school divisions in meeting these technology goals.

1994 – HJ 157

1995 – HB 2542; SJ 352 (continues special education technology commission)

1996 – HJ 225 and SJ 89 (educational technology studies), HJ 196 (Commission on the Future of Public Education), HJ 135 (Commission on Educational Infrastructure), HB 512

1997 – HB 1835; HB 2285 (education technology foundations), HB 1848 (technology training and technical assistance), HB 2481 (technology resource assistants), HB 2770 (technology replacement program)

1998 – HB 1340, HJ 176

1999 – HB 1115 and SB 1327 (Information Technology Access Act), HB 2241; HB 2321 (Family Involvement in Technology), HB 2480 (educational software for the SOL)

2000 – HB 267 and HB 1040 (technology resources assistants), HB 342 and HB 520 (funding of technology plans), HB 805 (computer donations to students), HB 963 (Educational Excellence Trust Fund), SB 83 (SOQ technology amendments), HJ 63 (study of educational technology funding), HJ 223 (Commission on Educational Infrastructure and Technology), SJ 210 (technology availability in schools), HB 203.

2001 – SB 1057 (educational technology funds for technical education)

In most recent budget actions, West Virginia approved $16.3 million to continue a program that puts computers in classrooms and improves students’ computer skills. The legislature also passed a bill creating a “virtual school” to offer high-quality courses over the Internet. Maryland approved an additional $10.4 million for a multi-year plan to link schools to online computer resources, while North Carolina increased educational technology funding by $5 million. Meanwhile, Alabama has created an Office of Information Technology to address the state’s information technology needs, including those of public schools.

As part of its FY2001 budge package, Congress made $300 million available for technology renovations in public schools. More than $30 million dollars in federal funding is being used this year for expanding access to informational technology and learning services through creation of computer learning facilities in low-income communities. Technology at these centers is being used, among other things, for preschool preparation and after-school enrichment programs.

Educational Technology Funding, Senate Finance Committee, 2000

Chronology of Educational Infrastructure Issues in Virginia, Division of Legislative Services, 1998

THOMAS

Southern Regional Education Board

Department of Education

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