Alabama Governor Riley Visits High Schools to Urge Funding Increase for ACCESS Distance Learning

January 08, 2008 -- PRATTVILLE – Alabama Governor Bob Riley began his push to increase funding for Alabama’s distance learning initiative at a high school in Prattville today, and tomorrow he will be visiting high schools in Semmes and Gurley.

The tour comes as the Governor prepares the education budget he will present to the Legislature in February. The distance learning initiative – called ACCESS – is working to connect students to new learning opportunities and deserves a funding increase, Governor Riley says.

“If we truly want our children to have a world-class education system, then we must offer them opportunities to take a variety of important courses regardless of where they go to school. ACCESS distance learning does exactly that. It uses 21st century technology to bring courses like advanced math, science and language classes that many schools can’t offer,” said Governor Riley.

At Prattville High School, Governor Riley participated in an Algebra II and Trigonometry class that was simultaneously being taught to students in Pinson Valley High School in Jefferson County, about 100 miles away.

On Wednesday morning, the Governor will visit a classroom at Madison County High School in Gurley that is connected by video conferencing to a classroom at Paint Rock Valley High School in Princeton. Later that afternoon, Governor Riley will be at Mary G. Montgomery High School in Semmes while its General Psychology class is also being taught to students at Greensboro East High School in Hale County.

As of this month, there are 170 high schools across the state that have ACCESS. ACCESS, which stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide, puts high-end interactive video conferencing technology in participating schools so students can be connected in real-time with teachers in classrooms at other locations across the state. The program also offers asynchronous courses over the Internet. Offering classes through video conferencing and the Internet provides local school systems with greater flexibility to meet school and student needs, Governor Riley said.

Funding for ACCESS in the Fiscal Year 2008 education budget is $20.3 million. Governor Riley wants to increase funding for this program that works and will propose an increase in the budget he submits to the Legislature in February.

Source: Alabama Governor

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