OMB Watch, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, announces its support for President Clinton and Vice President Gore in their efforts to secure $65 million in support of Community Technology Centers (CTCs) to help close the digital divide.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 1999
CONTACT: Ryan Turner, (202) 234-8494

Community Technology Centers: Closing the Digital Divide

OMB Watch, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, announces its
support for President Clinton and Vice President Gore in their efforts
to secure $65 million in support of Community Technology Centers (CTCs) to help close the digital divide.

"Supporting CTCs is the right thing to do," says Gary Bass, executive
director at OMB Watch. "Those least likely to have computer and
Internet access at home are most likely to seek it at community centers.
We believe CTCs are one of the best ways to meet this need." Research
funded by the National Science Foundation demonstrated that CTCs
provide, according to Bass, "great bang for the buck. They reach the
hardest to serve, they provide job skills, and they lead to job
requests."

Congress is currently considering $65 million for the Community
Technology Centers Program, administered by the U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Adult and Vocational Education for FY 2000. The
House Labor-HHS Appropriations bill only provides $10 million for FY
2000.

"We strongly support Congress appropriating $65 million for CTCs," says
Bass. "They are a proven model that represent a workable partnership
between community and business to develop the skills necessary for
underserved people to succeed in our increasingly technological world."
OMB Watch, is working with a coalition of national organizations --
including Alliance for Community Media; the Alliance for Technology
Access; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees;
American Library Association; ASPIRA; the Association for Community
Networking; Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy; Computer
Professionals for Social Responsibility; Libraries for the Future;
National Association of Community Action Agencies; National Education
Association; National Urban League; and SeniorNet -- to encourage
Congress to provide increased federal support for CTCs.

A recent National Telecommunications and Information Administration
report shows that while more Americans than ever have access to
technology, there are large disparities. Between 1997 and 1998 the
divide between those at the highest and lowest education levels grew 25
percent and the divide between those at the lowest and highest income
levels grew 29 percent. Households with incomes of $75,000 or higher
are more than twenty times as likely to have access to the Internet, and
more than nine times as likely to have a computer at home than those at
the lowest income levels.

CTCs meet education and training needs not addressed by school-based
technology efforts. By providing workforce skills, job training, and
higher-end technology access to underserved individuals and families in
the morning, evening, and weekends, CTCs complement the range of
services provided by schools and libraries as an integral part of the
communities they serve. Most CTCs, in fact, are housed in libraries,
after-school programs, churches and other faith-based community groups,
settlement houses, low-income housing developments, social service and
community action agencies, Urban Leagues, museums, schools, and
youth-serving organizations including the YMCA, YWCA, Boys and Girls
Clubs, and 4-Hs.

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