The Poor Need High Tech : Future jobs need computer-literate kids; many are losing out

In the stampede for faster, more powerful computers and the rush to the Internet, a serious gap has opened between technology’s haves and have nots. The problem, according to one California-based children’s organization, threatens to keep a new generation of poorer Americans mired in low-paying, menial jobs and thus hurt the U.S. economy.

Greater numbers of businesses depend on workers trained to think critically and handle new technology. A national study by the Children’s Partnership of Santa Monica, however, reveals that a sizable percentage of young people in low-income areas cannot acquire necessary skills due to a dearth of even basic computer equipment in their homes, schools and communities.

Poor Americans must spend their scarce dollars to cover life’s basics. It’s no surprise that but one of every 10 low-income students had computers at home, compared with eight of 10 in affluent families.

In the classroom, supposedly the great equalizer, the technology gap persists. In areas where the proportion of low-income students is high, 31% of schools are wired for Internet access. In contrast, 62% of schools serving mostly upper-income children are hooked up.

Efforts should be made to even the balance, and some are underway. The California Wellness Foundation has announced a five-year initiative to create 10 high-tech training centers in low-income communities. The Oakland school district has an innovative computer recycling program that provides old corporate computers to schools and students.

The recent California NetDay captured national attention by wiring 3,500 schools across the state through a match of corporate sponsors and volunteers. Still, more must be done. Poor work performance and low productivity now cost American businesses an estimated $25 billion to $30 billion a year, according to the National Forum for Information Assn. The Los Angeles Unified School District has estimated that 60% of new jobs in Southern California by the year 2000 will require “technology literacy.” Yet only 22% of workers will have acquired those skills. Put that way, the solution seems obvious.