Clinton Focuses On Technology Education Plan
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AllPolitics, June 5) -- President Bill Clinton called on states to make technological literacy a standard for middle school graduation during a commencement address Friday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Every child in America needs to participate in the information revolution," Clinton said.
Speaking to more than 2,000 graduates, Clinton backed up his call by promising to help develop a team of trained-technology experts in each middle school.
The president will pledge $180 million in federal money over three years toward that effort, White House sources say. But the money would only go to states that agree to establish technology literacy as a requirement for middle school graduation.
Clinton's address included a pitch to Congress and telecommunications companies to support the so-called "e-rate," a discount for poor schools trying to hook up classrooms to the Internet.
"We cannot afford not to have an e-rate. Thousand of poor schools and libraries and rural health centers are in desperate need of discounts. If we really believe that we all belong in the information age, then at this sunlit moment of prosperity we can't leave anyone behind in the dark, " Clinton said.
The discount program has become controversial since some phone companies have added a line to consumers' bills detailing charges they say are necessary to pay for the Internet access program.
Clinton also expressed concern that low-income and minority children may be shut out of the benefits of technology.
"Today affluent schools are almost three times as likely to have Internet access in the classroom. White students more than twice as likely as black students to have computers in their homes." Clinton said. "We know from hard experience that unequal education hardens into unequal prospects, we know the information age will accelerate this trend."
MIT, located in Cambridge, Mass. is one of the nation's leading scientific and technological institutions.
After his speech on the benefits on technology, Clinton planned to attend a celebration for a man who became famous for living devoid of technology and society. The president will be the featured guest Friday afternoon at the dedication of the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods near Lincoln, Mass.
The research and education center honors Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century naturalist and writer whose two-year effort to live off the land and confront "the essential facts of life" produced "Walden," his most famous literary work.
While in Massachusetts, Clinton will also lunch at the Boston home of retiring Rep. Joseph Kennedy, the son of the late Robert F.Kennedy. Friday marks the thirtieth anniversary of the former attorney general,
senator and Democratic presidential candidate's assassination.
Clinton plans to record his weekly radio address at the Kennedy house. His remarks will focus on RFK's legacy.
CNN's John King and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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