New York state schools will need higher-speed broadband,...

New York state schools will need higher-speed broadband, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared Wednesday in his State of the State address, outlining an initiative to improve school district technology. Cuomo, a Democrat, judged “the best long-term economic development strategy” to be education. “We are in the midst of an education reinvention. ... We must transform our classrooms from the classrooms of yesterday to the classrooms of tomorrow.” He outlined a plan in which each district must submit a technology plan to the state and can receive funds, pending approval of a bond referendum. Cuomo released a long document pegged to his speech describing this $2-billion “Smart Schools” bond referendum (http://bit.ly/1ii7yGs). “If approved by the voters, the ‘Smart Schools’ bond referendum will enable schools to go wireless; educate students using interactive tablets instead of outdated textbooks and worksheets; make it possible for teachers to connect with one another to share strategies and lesson plans; offer high-level courses such as Advanced Placement through blended online/classroom learning; replace chalkboards with 79 new interactive whiteboards; and provide access to other technology to improve student achievement,” the governor’s office said in the document. It described how funds from this initiative would be allocated to every district. “At some schools, there are children on the Internet. At some schools, they don’t even have a basketball net,” Cuomo said during the speech. “Let’s have the smartest classrooms in the nation."