Recipients were from rural and urban districts throughout the state. Nearly every public school in America has an Internet connection, with access jumping from a little over one-third of schools to 95 percent in just five years, the Education Department said. In 1999, on average, there were nine students for every one instructional computer with Internet access nationwide. The previous year, on average, the ratio was 12 students for each such computer, the report said. Officials say the program has helped connect more than one million classrooms to the Internet, mostly by helping them pay for internal wiring.
Access still differs among types of schools.
Poor students and those in large cities also were more likely to share Internet access. The estimated demand represents more than the previous two years combined. In his weekly radio address February 26, President Clinton announced the release of official guidelines for his initiative to turn around failing schools. Last year, as part of his strategy to demand more from our schools and invest more in them, the President proposed an Accountability Fund to help states and localities fix failing schools or shut them down. President Clinton believes that public school choice can help improve low-performing schools by increasing competition and accountability.