Equal access to Advanced Placement classes good thing for Ohio high school students
Newark Advocate
May, 5 2009
Sarah Briggs - Executive Director, Technology for Ohio’s Tomorrow
As the executive director of Technology for Ohio’s Tomorrow -- a statewide organization of technology consumers, businesses and opinion leaders focused on Ohio’s future as a leader in technology -- I would like to thank Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish and the members of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee for funding in the state budget the Distance Learning Pilot Project, which will provide Advanced Placement courses to all of Ohio's high schools.
This measure, originally introduced as House Bill 4 by Representatives Jennifer Garrison and Debbie Phillips, would use the Internet and audio/video technology to deliver Advanced Placement classes to high schools that currently don't have them.
Ohio lags behind the rest of the nation in the number of students who take Advanced Placement courses. Our state also is behind the nation in using distance learning technologies to educate our high school students. Many of our high school students, particularly in Ohio’s rural areas, have little or no access to Advanced Placement classes.
I urge the members of the Ohio General Assembly in both the House and the Senate to approve this pilot program so that students in all of Ohio's high schools will have the same opportunity for success.