I’m pleased to be here today to talk about an issue I care about deeply – bringing our classrooms into the Information Age.

Those of us in this room are really transitional figures (and I mean that in the nicest possible way). We straddle two worlds. We were there for the birth of the Information Age, but we grew up in a world without personal computers, without the Internet, without all of the things that make living in today’s world such a blessing and a curse – VCRs, fax machines, beepers, cell phones, cd players, hundreds of video channels being delivered by wire or satellite, and on and on. We lived through all that. And we compete against other people struggling with the same transition. Many of our contemporaries will never learn to use a computer, or will always think of a "bookmark" as a piece of paper that actually marks a place in a book.

Our children, on the other hand, will never know a world without all these things. And they will be competing in a world populated by others who also never knew a world without these things. The skills they will need to survive and prosper are very different from the skills we needed. By the year 2000, 60% of jobs will require technology skills. The Washington Post recently did a story about how students with limited or no access to computers fall behind in the skills they need to enter college and the job market. The rising demand for workers with technology skills has created a growing gap between the wages of skilled workers and unskilled workers. Indeed, some employers are having to go overseas to find workers with the skills they need, because we aren’t producing enough skilled workers in this country.

So we need to prepare our children to live and compete in the Information Age. And I think it’s essential that we give that opportunity to all of our children – rural and urban, minority and non-minority, rich and poor. We cannot afford to become a society of information haves and have-nots in a world in which the ability to access and manipulate information is the currency of the day.

Congress recognized this in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 by establishing the education-rate (or e-rate) so that schools, classrooms, and libraries could obtain access to advanced telecommunications services. Congress also enacted Section 706, which requires the Commission to regularly assess the availability of advanced telecommunications services to all Americans, including, in particular, elementary and secondary schools and classrooms.

I’d like to make a couple of observations about these provisions. First, Congress wisely focused particular attention on the one institution in which, by law, all of our children participate – the school. Congress recognized that all of our children need and deserve access to advanced technology. Unfortunately, the "digital divide" is all too real. According to the Commerce Department, over 40% of white households own computers, compared to only about 19% of blacks. And, when it comes to Internet access, about 21% of white households subscribe to an online service compared to only 7.7% for blacks and 8.7% for Hispanics. Focusing on broad and inclusive institutions like schools is helping to ensure that the digital divide doesn’t become an unbridgeable gap.

I think it’s also significant that Congress focused on schools and classrooms. Congress recognized that just hooking up the principal’s office doesn’t do much for students. Congress wanted advanced services available to students as an integral part of their school day.

I have seen the impact of this kind of technology on students. A couple of months ago, I visited Hayes Middle School in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hayes is located in one of the poorest sections of Albuquerque (indeed, the neighborhood is called the "war zone"), and it has an ethnically diverse student population. I walked into this school and was just amazed by what I saw. In one classroom, students were doing reports on art and art history – visiting the web sites of different museums, downloading visuals, surfing the web to research various topics. In another classroom, students were using publishing software and doing some wonderfully creative and complex work. There was an energy and an excitement in what these students were doing that was contagious. They weren’t passively memorizing information. They were actively learning, and they were eager to explain what they were doing to anyone who would listen – even to a regulator from Washington.

The experience of schools like Hayes is one reason I strongly supported the FCC’s recent decision to fund the schools and libraries program to its cap of $2.25 billion for the next school year. After visiting schools like Hayes, I’m convinced of two things. One, the e-rate program is a sound investment in our children that will pay huge dividends in the years to come. And two, the e-rate is especially important for making sure that minority and low income children aren’t left on the wrong side of the digital divide. Even though the e-rate has become something of a political football in Washington over the past year, I’m absolutely committed to the core values it promotes.

Last year, we approved $1.66 billion in e-rate discounts to over 11,000 rural schools and libraries and over 13,000 urban schools and libraries located in all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. This year we’ve approved $2.25 billion, and have received over 32,000 applications from schools and libraries across the country.

Despite the success of the e-rate, however, our poorer schools continue to lag behind. While 62% of classrooms in wealthier schools are connected to the Internet, only 39% of high-poverty classrooms are connected. The e-rate is an important tool for closing that gap.

Another important tool is our authority under Section 706. The Commission has committed itself to yearly assessments of the state of deployment of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans, including schools and classrooms. If we find, at any point, that such capability is not being deployed in a "reasonable and timely fashion," the Commission is directed to take "immediate action" to accelerate the deployment of advanced services. I take those directives seriously. I intend to take a hard look at the state of deployment for all our citizens – and especially for our schools and classrooms – and if we need to do more, I will not hesitate to act.

Cable has been doing its part to bring broadband access to the American people and to the schools. In preparing this year’s Section 706 Report, I was struck by the fact that cable is far and away the leader in bringing broadband services to consumers. And that leadership is providing a real incentive for your competitors to develop their own broadband offerings.

And I want to commend you for your special commitment to bringing high-speed Internet access to our schools and libraries through programs such as Cable’s High Speed Education Connection. Your pledge to provide free high-speed Internet access to K-12 schools and libraries nationwide will be one of your industry’s great legacies. So far, your efforts have benefitted more than 2,500 schools, with another 700 to be added in 1999. I have seen what Comcast has been doing in Baltimore County, Maryland, and I was delighted to help cut the ribbon launching their high-speed service to Woodbridge Elementary School. I encourage you to continue working to bring more high-speed connections to schools and libraries across America.

But just as important as connecting our schools is support and training for our teachers. Without adequate training, our teachers won’t be able to make full use of these wonderful tools they’re being provided. At Hayes Middle School, some of the teachers acknowledged that they had to ask their students how to use some of the more complex computer functions. That’s why efforts such as cable’s "webTeacher" are so important. WebTeacher is a free, 80-hour, on-line tutorial for teachers to learn about the Internet and how it can be integrated into their classroom curriculum. I understand it covers topics like how to use the Internet, how to use screening devices to protect their students from inappropriate material, and even how the class can create its own home page. That kind of resource is critical.

Working together, we can give all our children the tools they need to participate in the Information Age. We can build bridges over the digital divide. We can do these things, and I think we must.

Thank you again for the opportunity to be here.