Olympia, Washington:Washington state and school district leaders have made huge strides in their efforts to improve school connectivity across the state, according to data published by nonprofit Connected Nation through its Connect K-12 program website.

“Access to high-speed internet is essential to preparing our students to compete in today’s workforce — and basic connectivity is no longer enough,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “We must ensure that school bandwidth grows alongside the incredible innovations happening in our 21st century classrooms, which is why we have embraced the future goal of 1 megabit per student as Washington’s vision for broadband.”

The state made a huge leap in school internet connectivity from 2019 to 2020.

Leaders increased the number of school districts meeting or exceeding the federally recommended goal of 1 Mbps per student from 36% to 49%—a 13 percentage point improvement in a single year’s time (based on updated data on January 31, 2021). You can find an overview of the state’s school district connectivity here: https://connectk12.org/states/WA.

“Not only has Washington made great strides in improving classroom connectivity but the state is now exceeding the national average for bandwidth per student,” said Emily Jordan, Vice President, Connect K-12. “While just 47% of school districts nationwide are meeting the 1 Mbps per student goal set by the Federal Communications Commission, 49% of Washington school districts are doing so. Such speeds make it possible for digital learning to take place in every classroom, every day.”

The Connect K-12 website is a FREE tool that can help school district and state leaders more easily and effectively negotiate better internet pricing and reach their connectivity goals. The Connect K-12 website aggregates, analyzes, and visualizes E-rate data within seconds so leaders have all the information they need by simply entering their school district or state. To learn more head to https://connectk12.org/.