Broadband Infrastructure in Schools
Issue: Empowering & Educating Communities
Target Level of Office: State
Policy Origin: New Mexico State Legislature
Poilcy/Bill Number: Senate Bill 159
Link: www.YEONetwork.org/2013policy/?i=243
YEO Sponsor:
Sen. Jacob Candelaria
Summary Narrative of the Policy: This bill establishes New Mexico education technology
infrastructure funding to support local educational agencies and school districts in acquiring
the hardware and equipment necessary in supporting broadband connectivity in school districts
and school buildings.
Relevant Talking Points & Important Information:
• Enhancing the educational opportunities available to students of all ages in the United
States has long been a priority for policymakers, educators, and parents. Many recent
proposals for overhauling the nation’s educational system center on using technology to
not only enhance the educational experience of students, but also to gather better data
on student performance, streamline administrative processes, make educational services
more widely available, and foster critical thinking, problem solving, and the innovative
use of knowledge.
• Broadband has the greatest potential to modernize the educational experience. It
provides students, parents, administrators, and teachers with a platform for enabling a
wide range of innovative tools, services, applications, and hybrid appro aches to teaching
and learning.
• Broadband is not the magical solution for education reform; however, it can serve as
an essential vehicle for delivering content and tools that can be used to spur student
engagement, enhance learning outcomes, facilitate collaboration and innovation among
educators, and enable cost saving in education. Furthermore, given the digitization of
our society, introducing students to broadband internet literacy early on in their academic
careers provides another valuable skill in the successful school-to-career pipeline.
Policy
2014 Book
State Level
73