ASPIRA supports policies that increase access by Latino communities to the latest technology, including broadband.

• competition because competition will lead to lower prices for telecommunications services (video, telephone and broadband) hence increasing access and benefiting our community and youth;

• legislation that would allow the telephone companies to deploy fiber optic cable to provide a choice to the cable companies, as long as it is assured that all communities will eventually be served by these services without discrimination, as included in the current pending legislation;

• state, rather than local, franchising authority. This reduces the burden and hence the cost of providing telecommunications services in Latino communities.

ASPIRA opposes the so-called “net neutrality” because it creates a disincentive to deploy new technologies that can benefit our communities.

ASPIRA recognizes that Latinos still have significantly less access to state-of-the-art technology in schools.

• efforts by school districts, states and the Federal Government to increase access to technology specifically in schools attended by Latino students to at least the levels of access in the more affluent schools;

• continued research into the impact of technology on the education and lives of Latinos and on the issue of access;

• efforts to research and implement technology-based education programs that are proven effective with Latino students;

• initiatives that provide quality professional development to teachers so they can maximize the effective use of technology as a tool in the classroom;

• As programs that offer high tech training to Latino youth as either an alternative career path or as a supplement to their education;

the responsible use of Internet and the promotion and dissemination of information on safety for Internet users.

ASPIRA recognizes that there is still a substantial “digital divide” that disproportionately affects Latino youth and communities.

• programs, such as the Community Technology Centers, that provide access and training to youth in communities;
• reinstating the CTC programs under the Department of Education and the Department of Commerce.