N.C. first state to connect all public schools to high-speed broadband

Published 12:00 am Thursday, May 24, 2018

GRAHAM — North Carolina has become the first state to connect every classroom to high-speed broadband.

State and local officials were joined by Afjit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, on Tuesday at Graham High School to celebrate the achievement.

They included Lt. Gov. Forest, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson, Alamance-Burlington school Superintendent Bill Harrison, state Sen. Rick Gunn, and state Rep. Stephen Ross.

The effort to connect all classrooms to broadband began over a decade ago.

Because of a partnership among local, state and federal agencies, the project will be finished by the end of this school year.

 As chairman of the Special Committee on Digital Learning, Forest has overseen the development and implementation of the Digital Learning Plan by the Friday Institute at N.C. State University.

The original plan was to connect all classrooms by 2022. However, through working with the FCC and the General Assembly, the state leveraged funding and resources to accomplish the goal ahead of schedule.

“By connecting all of our public-school classrooms to high-speed broadband, North Carolina will bridge the education divide allowing opportunity for an excellent education to all public-school students,” said Forest. “You can see this type of opportunity already happening at Graham High School. A school that was trending in the wrong direction, but since the rollout of their digital initiative in 2015, the school has continually exceeded growth and increased a full letter grade on their performance record.”

“We have been a strong partner with the state of North Carolina, and today we see the power of that partnership in Graham High School and throughout your state,” said Pai of the FCC. “We need to continue to make sure that every student — regardless of where he or she lives — has equal access to a great educational opportunity.”