America, over the past 10 years, has invested more than $40 billion to equip schools with computers and connect classrooms to the internet, the Benton Foundation pointed out at a conference Dec. 11, in Washington, D.C. Now, as a financial crisis engulfs most state governments, that multi-billion-dollar technology investment is at risk, Benton warned.

The conference, hosted by the nonpartisan, public-interest foundation, was held to preview a new report intended to outline what must be done to ensure the nation's ed-tech investment doesn't go to waste.

The report, "The Sustainability Challenge: Taking Ed/Tech to the Next Level," is scheduled for online release in the next two weeks with a print edition to follow Jan. 1, 2003. It is the third in a series from Benton focused on the eRate and other ed-tech funding issues.

"We've made significant progress in getting computers and the internet into America's classrooms," said Norris Dickard, Benton Foundation director of public policy and editor of the publication. "However, it's become clear that many schools are not using this new infrastructure to its maximum potential. Schools need well-trained teachers and [high-] quality curricula that take full advantage of these ed-tech investments. Yet states are cutting ed-tech funds, and technology fatigue may be hitting state and local policy makers—just as they are given new authority to transfer federal ed-tech funds to other uses."

The Benton report outlines a number of critical "next steps" the foundation said are needed to sustain America's ed-tech infrastructure and ensure that this investment helps support student achievement. The report offers a "Sustainability Top Ten List" of reforms including these:

• Accelerating teacher professional development
• Professionalizing technical support
• Ensuring all Americans have 21st Century Skills and
• Adopting a new national goal to bridge the home and community digital divides

Besides those four recommendations, the report includes calls to implement authentic ed-tech assessments, create a national digital trust for content development, focus on the emerging broadband divide, increase funding for federal ed-tech block grants to $1 billion, share what works, and continue ed-tech funding research.

As school leaders at the conference and elsewhere got their first look at the findings, they all acknowledged the report's sound content and good intentions, but some questioned the feasibility of implementing its recommendations.

One California educator predicted Benton's recommendations will do little to better the increasingly troubled situation in schools in her home state. "I get really tired of hearing these things. The suggestions are the same [as] have been espoused for years," said Sharon Eilts, a teacher in the Sunnyvale, Calif., School District. "These suggestions seem like pie-in-the-sky when we in the trenches have so much to deal with. The old war horses like myself keep plugging along, but an apple and some oats would be nice."