More Work Needed to Connect Schools to Broadband in Arkansas, Public Officials Say
Federal grants were successful in bringing high-speed Internet access to health clinics and higher education institutions in Arkansas, but more work needs to be done to bring broadband to schools, said Tony Wilhelm, NTIA associate administrator, at the Connecting Arkansas conference Thursday. President Barack Obama’s ConnectED initiative will help schools become more competitive through the FCC’s E-rate program, and students will have new opportunities to learn, said Wilhelm: “New technology makes for individualized learning that equalizes opportunities in rural and urban areas of the state."
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The state needs to invest in more public-private partnerships to “keep the momentum going,” said Wilhelm. In July, the Legislature passed the Digital Learning Act, which created two committees to collect information on the conditions of broadband in the state and ways the state can improve, said Kathy Smith, Fast Access for Students and Teachers and Economic Results Committee vice chair. Her committee, along with the Quality Digital Learning Committee, found 67 percent of state school districts were buying their own equipment for broadband, and the costs and topography varied among school districts.
The committees will work together to recommend to the governor and Legislature key processes needed to provide broadband to schools by December, said Smith. The committees will recommend investing in public-private partnerships, strengthening IT staff in school districts and centralizing E-rate management for fiber buildout, she said. An educational paradigm shift is happening in Arkansas, said Smith. “We know the opportunities are there to bring in technology innovation, and we need the educational imperative to make this happen,” she said. “We can be a model for rural states to improve student achievement and economic development.” Sam Walls, Connect Arkansas president, said he believes public-private partnerships are also an important step going forward. “With additional funds from the state, we will be able to connect more communities,” he said.
More transactional government websites are going online, which saves the government money, said Walls. Nine transactional websites are operational and five more will be added this spring, he said. Transactional websites can create major savings, said Anne Neville, NTIA State Broadband Initiative director, in a Wednesday blog post on federally funded initiatives in Arkansas and West Virginia (http://1.usa.gov/1fEc4yQ). She said Sharp County, Ark., has collected $360,000 in property taxes online since March 2012. The expanded websites offset “the costs of creating and maintaining these sites by allowing county and city employees to spend less time taking in-person payments or answering questions over the phone,” said Neville. The West Virginia Technical Assistance Grant Program has also awarded grants to the state’s 11 planning and development regions to provide a variety of online services including tax payment systems and access to property records with NTIA’s help, said Neville.
Programs in Arkansas need continued investment to be sustainable, said Wilhelm at the conference. “With FirstNet coming along, Arkansas will have a process to capitalize on it as well,” said Wilhelm. The state needs to bring similar tactics to revamp other areas for broadband buildout, said Gov. Mike Beebe (D). The state introduced payment changes and Medicaid expansion in the past year, and it is getting calls from legislators in other states to find out their processes, said Beebe. “We want other states to say they want to be like Arkansas,” he said. (sfriedman@warren-news.com)