Obama Announces Nearly $3 Billion in Education Technology Commitments

President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced nearly $3 billion in commitments from the Federal Communications Commission and several private technology companies that aim to “close the technology gap in our schools.”

During the announcement at a middle school in Maryland, Obama said the commitments will help “put the world and outer space at every child’s fingertips, whether they live in a big city or a quiet suburb or rural America.”

In addition to the FCC’s $2 billion commitment to serve as a down payment for providing high-speed broadband Internet access to 15,000 schools, the Department of Agriculture will provide more than $10 million in distance-learning grants for rural schools, according to documents provided by the White House.

“My country invested in me … and now I want America to invest in you,” Obama said. “Because in the faces of these students, these are future doctors and lawyers and engineers, scientists, business leaders. We don’t know what kinds of products, services, good work any of these students may do. But I’m betting on them. And all of us have to bet on them.”

“In a country where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, we should definitely demand it in our schools,” he later added.