The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Initiative well worth cost

By Geoff Patnoe

Calling it "driver's ed for life on the information superhighway," Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature created the Digital High School Initiative as part of the 1997-98 state budget. Though the budget was almost two months late, this innovative four-year program will help prepare tomorrow's leaders and workforce with the necessary tools to compete in the future.

The Digital High School Initiative is a four-year program crafted by Wilson. Its goal is to provide Internet technology to every one of California's high schools--an expensive investment for California, but extremely necessary. The budget includes $100 million in first-year funding for the program. The initiative will eventually cost $1 billion to implement, but the state of California is planning to foot half the bill, with corporate and private donations matching the state's contribution.

There is one computer for every 14 students in California classrooms, according to a 1996 California Education Task Force report. As a result, California, the high-tech leader of the world, ranks 45th out of 50 states in students per computer in our public schools. That ratio needed to be reduced.

As residents of Sunnyvale, many of our children are skilled in using a computer. However, most of California's students are not as fortunate as those of us living in the Silicon Valley. Legions of high school graduates are leaving school without learning how to operate a computer. This problem puts many students at a disadvantage when they enter college, the military or the workforce. Without computer skills, today's students will be at a disadvantage when facing the challenges of the 21st century.

The high school I graduated from in the Fremont Union High School District has a tremendous computer facility. In fact, in 1993 Vice President Al Gore visited Monta Vista High School to witness first hand the school's technology. Other high schools in nearby communities are not as fortunate as Monta Vista. Most do not have the same tools available to them that our local students have at their fingertips. Wilson and the Legislature hope the Digital High School Initiative will level the playing field and bring other school districts in California off the shoulder and onto the highway--the information super highway.

In the past year, our leaders in Sacramento have been doing good things for children in California. Along with the Digital High School Initiative, the 1997-98 budget includes a record $22 billion in education funding, $1.5 billion of which will be used to extend the successful class-size reduction effort from three grades to four.

It has been said that if you give someone a fish, you can feed them for a day, but if you teach them how to fish, then you feed them for a lifetime. I was pleased to see leaders in Sacramento create a program like the Digital High School Initiative. It is a program that will help enable and teach our children to become computer-literate before they leave high school. California is leading the way in information technology, and now we are making an investment for the future by giving tomorrow's leaders the tools they will need to compete.

Geoff Patnoe is a former aide to Gov. Pete Wilson and a 1991 graduate of Monta Vista High School. He is currently a government affairs executive in Sacramento.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 3, 1997.
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