[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 110 (Wednesday, July 24, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1361-E1362]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CABLE'S COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NEWT GINGRICH

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 24, 1996

  Mr. GINGRICH. I would like to applaud a recently announced initiative 
by the cable industry to bring Internet access to schools free of 
charge. When students can use state-of-the-art technology, they are 
equipped for bright futures:

                Cable's On-Going Commitment to Education

       The cable industry has a long-standing, on-going commitment 
     to use its state-of-the-art technology and quality 
     programming to provide enhanced learning resources for 
     America's students. Cable's High Speed Education Connection 
     is the latest contribution. This initiative builds on the 
     foundation established by the industry's education 
     centerpiece, Cable in the Classroom, and continues to 
     demonstrate how cable technology expands our children's 
     educational opportunities with capabilities unmatched by any 
     other telecommunications provider or technology. The 
     industry's commitment manifests itself in a number of 
     programs and initiatives, including:


                         cable in the classroom

       Since 1989, Cable in the Classroom has been the foundation 
     of the cable industry's educational commitment. Cable systems 
     and program networks collectively have spent over $420 
     million on Cable in the Classroom, a program that benefits 
     students by connecting schools to cable's network, free of 
     charge, and donating other technology, commercial-free 
     programming and curriculum materials. Involving 8,400 cable 
     systems and 32 national cable networks, Cable in the 
     Classroom currently reaches over 38 million students in more 
     than 74,000 schools with over 6,000 hours of commercial-free, 
     educational programming every year--at no cost to schools.


            the family & community critical viewing project

       The Family & Community Critical Viewing Project is a 
     partnership of the National PTA and the cable industry that 
     provides parents, teachers and children with critical viewing 
     skills to evaluate and analyze what they see on TV. The 
     project is designed to help families make better, more 
     informed choices of the TV shows they watch. Launched in 
     1994, Critical Viewing Workshops offer parents and teachers 
     concrete steps to control the effects of TV violence and 
     commercialism on young people. To date, more than 1,500 cable 
     & PTA partners have been trained, over 1,000 workshops have 
     been presented nationwide, and more than 75,000 copies of 
     ``How to Take Charge of Your TV,'' a critical viewing 
     resource guide, have been distributed.


                             cable in focus

       Cable in Focus teams cable operators with cable networks to 
     conduct a series of educational screening events each year, 
     promoting high-quality, original cable programming selected 
     according to a theme (e.g. literacy, the environment, 
     diversity). In the past year alone, more than 400 cable 
     systems

[[Page E1362]]

     have hosted over 800 screenings, providing students with an 
     opportunity to view the abundance of high-quality, 
     educational programming exclusive to cable TV and to engage 
     in interactive group discussions on the various issues 
     addressed by the programming.


                           distance learning

       Cable's state-of-the-art technology has also provided 
     additional learning opportunities for at-home students, with 
     cable systems across the country delivering instruction and 
     learning opportunities directly to the home from leading 
     universities and other continuing education providers. 
     Distance learning, too, has grown with cable's advanced 
     technology, now featuring virtual ``electronic field trips,'' 
     with students interacting via satellite and over the Internet 
     in real-time to visit and learn with experts in the field 
     from the Berlin Wall, to the rain forests of Costa Rica, the 
     plains of Kenya, and many more.

                          ____________________