“Broadband Creates Higher Education Opportunities” – Jeffress & Cheatham
December 9th, 2011 by Senator Jimmy JeffressFrom Senator Jimmy Jeffress, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, andRepresentative Eddie Cheatham, chairman of the House Education Committee
Picture it: a single parent maintains a full-time job while working to complete a college degree to learn the job skills needed to better provide for his or her family.
It’s a common scenario, and many people can make it work by taking advantage of the flexibility and accessibility of online courses. Most of Arkansas’s higher education institutions offer courses online. Last school year, Arkansas students enrolled in more than 10,000 web-based classes offered at Arkansas campuses. Increasing the availability of online classes is key to improving the state’s college graduation rate.
The trend has spread across the country. According to Pew Research Center, nearly half of all degree holders nationwide who graduated in the past ten years took a class online.
However, online classes are out of reach for many Arkansans in rural areas that don’t have broadband Internet access.
“As former educators, Representative Cheatham and I recognize the impact that technology has on learning at all levels. Broadband allows students to overcome barriers and connect with their peers, with educational institutions and with the world,” Jeffress said.
“We have some catching up to do,” Cheatham said. “Arkansas is last in the nation in the percentage of households with Internet access and 46th in the nation in the percentage of homes with broadband access. High-speed Internet isn’t available where they live.”
“The lack of broadband access threatens to hold back development in our rural communities,” Jeffress said. “It means more than providing access to education, it also means being able to compete for job opportunities.”
Publicly and privately funded groups have stepped up to identify high-need areas where the most work must be done to increase Arkansans’ access to wireless broadband services.
One group is the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA), a coalition that supports broadband availability for everyone, including in underserved and rural communities. IIA recognizes that access is essential for economic growth, and the state’s ability to compete nationally and globally.
“We are making progress,” Cheatham said.
Choose another article
Newer article: Tyrone Smith Named 2010 DMH Health Hero of the Year
Older article: Monticello Band Students Make All-Region Band
While broadband accessibility is highly desirable, it is far more sensible for the taxpayers to stay out of it. It simply isn’t necessary.
Very high speed Internet access will be available over wide areas within a few years without the massive expense of installing cable. Given our current financial situation, we can wait.
In a few years time, high speed Internet will be readily available without any infrastructure outlay beyond what private companies will do on their own. Taxpayer dollars allocated to these projects today are a total waste.