BRUNSWICK, ME – In a bipartisan letter today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) and several of his colleagues urged leaders of the Senate and House education committees to maintain strong education technology provisions as they begin conference proceedings for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).                

This bicameral and bipartisan letter, which was addressed to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the House Education and Workforce Committee, asks members to include robust support in their bill for “education technology and technology-specific educator professional development, preferably through a stand-alone program.”

“Technology plays a pivotal role in everything we do today, and when it comes to the classroom, students aren’t going to be able to get ahead without knowing how to use technology to their advantage,” Senator King said. “As Committee leaders work to finalize ESEA, I urge them to maintain a strong commitment to education technology so that we can continue to close the digital divide and ensure that students are equipped with the 21^st century skills they need to succeed.”

In July, the Senate passed the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA), a major education reform bill that makes critical reforms to address the overly prescriptive approach and unrealistic goals of the No Child Left Behind Act that was passed in 2002. Senator King helped secure several provisions in the ECAA that would expand digital learning opportunities for America’s students, particularly those in rural areas, including:

• An amendment – inspired by an innovative educational initiative in Washington County – that would ensure digital services or devices that help students access the Internet outside of the school day, like mobile hotspots, are eligible for technology funding under the bill’s I-TECH program. The amendment is based in part on the Digital Learning Equity Act of 2015, introduced by Senator King and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) earlier this year.

• An amendment, also based in part on the Digital Learning Equity Act, that would direct the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to conduct a national study of the barriers to students having Internet access at home, how educators are adjusting classroom instruction to cope with this challenge, and how a lack of home Internet access impacts student participation and engagement.

The ECAA is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was last reauthorized in 2002 as the No Child Left Behind Act. The Senate overwhelmingly passed the ECAA in July by a vote of 81-17, and the House also passed its version of the legislation in July. Leadership of the Senate and House education committees are currently working out differences between the two bills and are expected to formally establish a conference committee soon.

The Senators’ full letter is available HERE.

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