Second Annual Report on Student Connectivity Reveals the States Leading the Way, According to EducationSuperHighway

News Release from EducationSuperHighway, January 30, 2017

LINK: Hawaii State Report

SAN FRANCISCO–The second annual “State of the States” report on the state of broadband connectivity in America’s schools finds a number of states are leading the way in ensuring that their students have access to equal educational opportunities provided by technology. The report was issued today by EducationSuperHighway, the leading national non-profit focused on upgrading the Internet access in every public school classroom in America.

Among the highlights of the report, every student in Hawaii, Kentucky, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming meets the minimum connectivity goal of 100 kilobits per second (kbps) per student – meaning that every child in these states can take advantage of digital learning. Meanwhile, Kentucky and Hawaii also join Delaware, Tennessee and West Virginia in having every school connected to high-speed fiber – the infrastructure that will allow their school districts to increase bandwidth over time to keep up with demand.

A full breakdown of states performing at the highest levels in various categories can be found below.

Evan Marwell, Founder and CEO of EducationSuperHighway remarked, “It is clear: states are making tremendous progress in getting more and more students online at the speeds necessary to take advantage of digital learning. During the past year, an additional 10.4 million students gained the minimum connectivity they need, and 88 percent of school districts nationally are now meeting minimum connectivity goals. This is a credit to the governors, state and school district leaders, service providers, and many other partners who have come together to ensure that our students can fully access the modern learning resources that are crucial to their academic development and future professional success. I congratulate the top-performing states and we look forward to another great year of connecting more students to high-speed Internet so they have access to all of the educational opportunities of the 21st century.”

The full “2016 State of the States” report can be found here: http://stateofthestates.educationsuperhighway.org/

2016 State of the States Top Performing States

States With All School Districts Meeting the Minimum School Connectivity Goal

• Hawaii
• Kentucky
• North Dakota
• South Carolina
• Wyoming

States With All Schools Connected to High-Speed Fiber

• Hawaii
• Delaware
• Kentucky
• Tennessee
• West Virginia

States With Highest Percent of School Districts That Have Affordable Broadband

• Hawaii
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Maine
• South Dakota

States That Are Most Improved in Percent of School Districts Now Meeting the Minimum Connectivity Goal (from 2015 to 2016)

• North Carolina
• Delaware
• Tennessee
• Nevada
• Virginia

State That Upgraded the Most Students in 2016

• North Carolina
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• New Mexico
• Arkansas

States That Are Most Improved in School Broadband Affordability (from 2015 to 2016)

• South Dakota
• Nevada
• Rhode Island
• Nebraska
• Delaware

About EducationSuperHighway

EducationSuperHighway is the leading non-profit focused on upgrading the Internet access in every public school classroom in America. We believe that digital learning has the potential to provide all students with equal access to educational opportunity and that every school requires high-speed broadband to make that opportunity a reality.

We catalyze federal and state action on K-12 broadband initiatives and are currently working with governors in 20 states covering 20 million students. We work directly with school districts to accelerate network upgrades by connecting them to competitive service provider options in their areas. Our Compare & Connect K-12 online tool helps schools and service providers view broadband services and bandwidth information for school districts nationwide so they can get and deliver more bandwidth for their broadband budgets. As a non-profit, our tools and services are offered free of charge.

EducationSuperHighway is funded by national foundations including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and our mission is supported by America’s leading CEOs.

Learn more about EducationSuperHighway here: https://www.educationsuperhighway.org