What is it about this laptop plan that is so pressing? Maine’s future.Yes, we have a budget shortfall. The $30 million designated to fund the laptop technology proposal will not fill the gap. However, it will build a bridge to a more dynamic economy.

Maine is one of the best-wired states in the nation. We have high-speed fiber-optic capability that most states only dream of. And we’re not beginning to use a fraction of our capacity. Why? We lack the critical mass of people with technological know-how to attract businesses using that technology.

Maine does not need more big- box stores, distribution centers or credit-card telemarketers. Those companies bring in their own management people and hire Mainers for lower-skill, lower-paying positions. That is not the stuff on which strong economies are built.

Thirty million dollars for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative is an investment in quality jobs for the future of all Mainers. It hollers boldly to the business world that Maine is ready to take them on. Our educational system served us well for almost 100 years. It evolved from the knowledge and resources at hand. One or two books per school blossomed into several texts for every student.

The one-room schoolhouse grew to multi-school systems throughout our communities. You and we learned from that system. But it’s not strong enough to prepare our children for the demands of the future.

Have you thought about the parallel tracks of technology development and the demand for education reform over the last 30 years? The faster we experience the evolution of technology in our daily lives,

the louder the cry for changes in our educational system.

This is not a coincidence. Reforming education to meet that change in our society is not a matter of adding more standardized tests. It is a matter of using our new knowledge and technology to educate our students in a more meaningful way to meet the demands of the future.

Today, Maine is the only state with a plan to provide every student access to high-end technology. If Maine opts out of this unique opportunity to leap forward, then another state will move in to reap the rewards, and we will continue to struggle with budget shortfalls.

We have one chance to be first; one chance to purchase this technology at rock-bottom prices. If we take the short-term view, we move to the back of the line. Now is the time to make a major commitment to the future of Maine. Support the Maine Learning Technology Initiative.

Tamera L. Grieshaber is the community relations coordinator, and Peter Robinson is the consulting teacher for technology with the Auburn

School Department.