Last month, Gov. Eric Holcomb and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick announced a new partnership to give all Hoosier students access to high-speed internet in every classroom across the state.

EducationSuperHighway is partnering with the state of Indiana to provide this service at no cost to taxpayers.

Currently, 98% of Hoosier schools meet the federal minimum recommended bandwidth per student to support digital learning, which is a wonderful accomplishment. However, that 2% represents 38,500 Hoosier students without the ability to access all that they could from digital education resources. In addition, 30 Indiana schools are still without high-speed fiber connections, 88% of school districts are not meeting national benchmarks for affordable broadband and there is more than $47 million remaining in federal funding to improve wi-fi in Indiana schools.

“To be ready for the jobs of the future, today’s students need the exposure and opportunity provided by quality digital learning experiences,” Gov. Holcomb said. “This partnership is the latest in our state’s ongoing commitment to extend and improve internet connectivity for every Indiana school.”

“Providing easy and available online access in Indiana schools is vital to the success of our students,” said McCormick. “When students have the right tools, learning is easier and more expansive. I am grateful for this partnership and how it will help prepare our students for life beyond high school.”

EducationSuperHighway plans on working with the Indiana Department of Education first to assess needs across the state – whether by infrastructure, bandwidth or upgrades. From there, the organization will work directly with those school districts to address those needs.

The Indiana Chamber supports and applauds these efforts, as we feel that every child across the state should have access to a quality education. In addition, with the movement of more technological-related jobs coming to our state at a rapid pace, it is more important than ever for our Hoosier students to have access to the best and newest technology offered.

Separately, this week the Indiana State Board of Education approved school corporation grades for the 2016-2017 school year. Out of the 289 school corporations, 48 received an “A” marking. This was more than double the number of A’s from the 2015-2016 school year.

Please see below for the grade breakdown per corporation.

2016-2017 GRADE # OF SCHOOL CORPORATIONS 2015-2016 COMPARISON +/- CHANGE
A 48 23 +25
B 149 175 -26
C 63 85 -22
D 6 5 +1
F 1 1 0


Reso
urce: Caryl Auslander at (317) 264-6880 or email: causlander@indianachamber.com