President Barack Obama wants the internet to be as available in schools as it is in most coffee shops.
"In a country where we expect free WiFi with our coffee, we should definitely demand it in our schools," he said at an event Tuesday in Maryland where he outlined steps to be taken by both the government and major corporations to expand access to high-speed internet in school.
The initiative is part of Obama's State of the Union agenda that emphasizes steps the president can take without the approval of Congress to advance his agenda.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Obama said, would make a $2 billion "down payment" on expanding internet access that he said would expand internet access to 20 million students in 15,000 schools across the country.
Obama also highlighted some corporate contributions. Apple, he said, had pledged $100 million in hardware for disadvantaged school and Sprint committed to offer free wireless service for as many as 50,000 low-income high school students.
"My country invested in me. My parents invested in me, my grandparents invested in me, but my country invested in me," Obama said at a school in Adelphi, Md. "And now I want the country to invest in you."
