California Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard recently introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to help low-income schools get federal funding for technology upgrades and computers as part of the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation Act, or ATTAIN.
The bill, which amends part of the No Child Left Behind Act, would also provide more technology training for teachers, put standards in place to make sure every child is technologically literate by 8th grade, and provide federal guidance for states on how to make sure that all schools have up-to-date software and technology. In addition, there’s a research component to the bill, which would investigate the efficacy of the technology program if it is put into place.
After doing a little poking around, I found out that Ms. Roybal-Allard proposed a similar bill two years ago, but it never left the House. Maybe now, when the importance of ed tech is getting even more attention, it might have a chance of getting off the ground.