School Internet Report Highlights Mississippi

By Emma Crawford Kent Daily Journal TUPELO – The state of Mississippi and Gov. Phil Bryant were highlighted in a new study on school Internet connectivity for continuing efforts to bring high-speed access to the state’s public schools. Education Superhighway, a non-profit organization focused on providing Internet access to public schools across America, cited in its “State of the States” report that 75 percent of Mississippi schools meet the minimum goal for Internet access as defined by the Federal Communications Commission. With this percentage, Mississippi ranks 26th nationally. The FCC has set this goal at 100 kbps of bandwidth per student, which represents the minimum Internet capacity needed for a school to implement digital learning. President Barack Obama has set a goal to have 100 percent of schools nationwide meeting that goal by 2018. According to the report, a typical school district in Mississippi will need to grow bandwidth at least threefold to meet the expected increase in demand by 2018. The report also highlighted Mississippi Gov.