FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Report of the Kansas Task Force on Internet Access for Schools and Public Libraries

Charles Krider
Director, IPPBR

Institute for Public Policy and Business Research

April 12, 1996
Report # 229A

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Broad Internet access for schools and libraries is important for economic competitivity and educational quality.

• At present in Kansas and the U.S., availability of Internet access is widespread, but of limited effectiveness. The most important limitation on Internet access is the restricted amount of access time presently available per user.

• The cost-effective provision of adequate access time per user depends on the use of direct connections rather than dialup modem connections, and it requires the use of area networks and many computers. At high levels of service, computers are the limiting cost.

• Effective use of the Internet depends on technical support, planning of changes in curriculum and library operations, training of teachers and librarians, and shifting of staff time towards use of the Internet.

• Kansas generally lags behind Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and the U.S. as a whole, in areas of:

  i. statewide planning and provision of Internet-related services
  ii. provision of direct dedicated connections to the Internet
  iii. provision of area networks
  iv. numbers of Internet connections per user

• Kansas is about average in provision of dialup modem connections.

• Internet access in Kansas tends to be inferior in school districts which are rural, small and/or spread-out, low in assessed valuation per capita, and/or having lower-than-average school budgets. Also, some districts are more aggressive than others in installing Internet connections.

• The Task force recommends as a minimum standard that, by the year 2000, at least one computer with a direct Internet connection should be provided for each teacher, for each librarian, for each thirty students, and for each 2000 persons in the libr ary population served.

• Internet technology will continue to change rapidly. The Task Force recommends that software and equipment be replaced after no more than five years, so that Kansas Internet technology is no more than 2.5 years behind the cutting edge on average.

• Provision of the minimum standard of access throughout Kansas would cost around $80 million per year for all costs, including the value of staff time utilized. However, a third of this amount either is already provided, or would replace other items in existing local budgets.

• The Task Force recommends that the State Board of Education Advisory Committee and the State Library Advisory Committee and Department of Administration, Division of Information Systems and Communications (DISC), should develop a plan, "the Internet Connect Plan," to provide statewide delivery systems, aggregate Internet demands, and reduce costs.

• The Task Force recommends that the state should establish a "Public Internet Initiative." It should provide technology funds of $11.5 million per year for local schools, and $1 million per year for local libraries. The state should also provide $2 .5 million per year for statewide networking costs. These funds would leverage local funds to get most districts close to the minimum standard. The state should also establish an Educational and Library Technology Endowment, possibly based on the Kauffman tax-windfall.

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