The first to pass model digital signature legislation, making electronic transactions as legally binding as ones on paper. The first to buy goods through an online auction, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. The first to create a statewide Digital Technology Atlas. The first to give out education grants on-line. But it won t last if we don t have a highly skilled, well-educated young Pennsylvania.
Education is the ultimate tool of economic empowerment.
That s why we have sought to introduce technology to every age group and classroom in Pennsylvania. It s linking 4,000 child-care centers to the Internet to harness its educational power for preschoolers. And we are launching the nation s first model Digital School Districts. And this summer I was proud to sign the Education Empowerment Act. It will help failing schools turn themselves around.