Searching for that $1 Billion in ConnectED Commitments

[Commentary] The wheels of school bureaucracies may seem creaky and slow -- but so, too, it turns out, are those of corporate America. In February, President Obama announced with some fanfare that he had rounded up technology donations worth more than a $1 billion from US corporations for schools as part of the government’s ConnectED initiative.

To be part of the initiative, companies had to commit to providing goods or services worth at least $100 million. Yet four months later, some of the companies that proudly made those pledges have yet to identify how schools or teachers can apply for the products and services. If schools don’t know when they can apply, they can’t incorporate these materials into significant instruction plans. That makes the donations “nice to have” -- but sadly limits the impact that they have on students and learning.