IV
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 295
Urging the establishment of a commission on technology and education.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 27, 2001
Mr. FERGUSON (for himself and Mr. DAVIS of Illinois) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce
RESOLUTION
Urging the establishment of a commission on technology
and education.
Whereas elementary and secondary schools in the United
States need to prepare students for the 21st century and
an economy that requires an educated and skilled work-
force, with an increasing focus on technology as a central
component;
Whereas there is widespread concern about the poor academic
performance of United States students relative to their
counterparts in many other industrialized nations;
Whereas this anxiety about the academic competitiveness of
United States students, coupled with changes in needed
work skills, has heightened interest in integrating tech-
nology into the curricula of elementary and secondary
schools;
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Whereas there are 8.2 million instructional computers in the
Nation’s elementary and secondary schools, with approxi-
mately 5 million additional multimedia computers needed;
Whereas elementary and secondary schools need $128 billion
of infrastructure work, related specifically to the incorpo-
ration of technology in the classroom;
Whereas the resources of elementary and secondary schools
are limited and the overall financial cost of acquiring,
maintaining, and using technology in schools, though sig-
nificant, remains unknown;
Whereas after nearly 2 decades of technological development,
the extent to which elementary and secondary schools
provide students with continuing and effective access to
new information technology still remains limited, making
it difficult to realize current technology’s educational ben-
efits;
Whereas despite gains in the ratio of computers to students,
the average computer in the Nation’s elementary and sec-
ondary schools is 7 years old, illustrating the sizable
stock of outdated technology in many of these schools;
Whereas a recent survey by National Center for Education
Statistics concluded that only 20 percent of American
teachers feel prepared to use new computer applications
and know how to integrate them into their classrooms;
Whereas there is no single authority directing or coordinating
technology in education and the General Accounting Of-
fice reports that there are 35 Federal programs adminis-
tered by eight different agencies that could support tele-
communications and information technology programs at
local elementary and secondary schools;
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Whereas the administration has recommended a single pro-
gram that will facilitate comprehensive and integrated
education technology strategies that target the specific
needs of individual elementary and secondary schools;
Whereas the Department of Education is currently con-
ducting an integrated study on educational technology, to
be released in spring 2002, that is designed to aid policy-
makers to fill the gaps in educational technology in the
Nation’s elementary and secondary schools;
Whereas the integrated study on educational technology will
measure the current state of the financial and technical
support for the implementation of educational technology,
including the influence of the Technology Literacy Chal-
lenge Fund established pursuant to the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et
seq.) and the so-called E-Rate program under subsections
(b)(6) and (h) of section 254 of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) for providing discounted tele-
communications services;
Whereas the integrated study on educational technology will
pinpoint which local educational agencies have benefitted
from a variety of existing programs, as well as the role
of these programs in supporting effective use of edu-
cational technology for improved teaching and learning;
Whereas the integrated study on educational technology will
assess the current state of professional development in
educational technology and the circumstances under
which professional development in the instructional use of
technology results in improvements in teaching and learn-
ing;
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Whereas the integrated study on educational technology will
provide policymakers and program managers with the in-
formation needed to inform future decisionmaking about
Federal investments in educational technology;
Whereas the administration has asserted that elementary and
secondary schools should use educational technology as a
tool to improve student academic achievement and that
using the latest technology in the classroom should not
be an end in itself; and
Whereas a team of specialized experts could best coordinate
national educational technology policies and objectives,
since the nature of technology itself, which grows at ex-
ponential rates, hinders a deliberative body from being
able to devote the necessary time and resources to mon-
itor these developments: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges
the creation of a commission on technology and education
that would—
(1) provide clear and focused goals for the fu-
ture of classroom educational technology and make
recommendations to efficiently implement technology
to accomplish these goals;
(2) make recommendations to improve and ex-
pand programs that train both educators and stu-
dents to use educational technology;
(3) to promote local control over the implemen-
tation of education technology in local elementary
and secondary schools; and
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(4) be comprised of education and technology
stakeholders, including educators, academics, par-
ents, industry leaders, and policymakers.
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