Governor Walker Awards $7.8 Million for Broadband Infrastructure Upgrades to 252 School Districts, including Antigo, Elcho and White Lake
MADISON – Governor Scott Walker visited the Mosinee School District today to announce 252 school districts in Wisconsin were awarded $7.8 million in Technology for Educational Achievement (TEACH) Information Technology Infrastructure grants. Since the program was created in 2016, the program has awarded more than $13 million in grants.
“We are pleased to announce 252 school districts across the state will receive grants to increase and improve technology in their classrooms,” Governor Walker said. “We are investing more actual dollars into public classrooms than ever before, increased technology in the classroom will help our students excel and further position Wisconsin to win the 21st century.”
Through an application process, grants for fiscal year 2018 were available to eligible school districts with 16 or fewer students per square mile. Funding amount available to a school district was determined by the number of students within the district.
Unified School District of Antigo will receive $60,000 in TEACH grants. The Elcho School District will receive $30,000, and White Lake School District will receive $23,083. A full list of school districts receiving awards and the total amount awarded can be found at https://teach.wi.gov/Pages/Grants/2018InfrastructureGrants.aspx.
Since taking office, Governor Walker has made rural access to broadband a priority. TEACH Information Technology Infrastructure Grants and TEACH Teacher Training Grants, as well as the Broadband Forward! Community Certification Program are examples of his commitment to increase broadband access in Wisconsin.
For teacher training, 590 grants to rural schools totaling nearly $4.5 million have been awarded. Each year of grants has allowed district teachers to attend, arrange, and provide training activities to build the information technology knowledge and capacity of teachers.