Lt. Governor Pat Quinn announces Children’s Low-Cost Laptop Ordinance, urges City Council to make laptop learning possible in every neighborhood
One lucky third grader wins a free laptop!
CHICAGO - Emphasizing the importance of bridging the digital divide in Illinois, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn asked the Chicago City Council Monday to consider a citizen ordinance that would make laptop learning a reality in every Chicago neighborhood.
Quinn will submit the "Children's Low-Cost Laptop Ordinance" under a rarely-invoked provision of the Chicago Municipal Code that allows any citizen to submit an ordinance to the City Clerk for consideration by the City Council.
"Laptops are the textbooks of the 21st century, and no Illinois child should be left on the wrong side of the digital divide," Quinn said at a 1:00 p.m. Monday news conference at Mahalia Jackson Elementary School. "In Chicago, it takes a neighborhood to raise a child, and we now have an opportunity to take matters into our own hands and provide students in every ward with the technology tools necessary for success in an increasingly digital world."
The goal of the "Children's Low-Cost Laptop Ordinance" is to provide at least 15,000 low-cost laptops for students in Chicago Public Schools as well as development training for teachers. The low-cost laptops would be distributed evenly throughout Chicago's 50 wards.
Low-cost laptops are already transforming learning around the world, across the nation - and right here in Illinois. Forest Park Public School District 91 recently purchased 100 XO laptops to equip all of the district's fifth-grade classrooms. And in Birmingham, Ala., students are learning with laptops thanks to the City Council's recent decision to buy 15,000 low-cost laptops for its school children.
"We want to salute the innovative thinkers in Forest Park and Birmingham who are ensuring that students are equipped today with the knowledge they will need tomorrow," Quinn said. "I urge the Chicago City Council to do the same for our students."
One lucky Chicago student won't have to wait for the launch of the Children's Low-Cost Laptop Initiative to receive a computer. Quinn awarded third grader Jasmine D. Williams with an XO laptop for winning a Mahalia Jackson Elementary School essay contest.
While the XO laptop's durability, energy efficiency and child-friendly programming make it a favorite among students and teachers, it is certainly not the only low-cost laptop on the market. For example, the Intel Classmate, the ASUS EEE and a growing list of other high-performing machines are offered at a low cost.
As chairman of the Broadband Deployment Council, Quinn is actively involved in improving access to high-speed Internet technology for all Illinois residents. In 2006, Quinn partnered with the Illinois State Board of Education to implement the Technology Immersion Pilot Project, which has provided nearly 5,000 students in 17 Illinois middle schools statewide with laptops or tablet PCs during the first two years of the program.
Late last year, Lt. Governor Quinn teamed up with the Western Illinois University Foundation to launch a statewide essay contest for third graders, awarding the 33 winners with XO laptops. Quinn and the foundation also presented 40 low-cost laptops to students at the Illinois School for the Deaf.
For more information about low-cost laptops and to see testimonials from students and teachers benefiting from laptop learning, please visit www.IllinoisConnect.org.