By the beginning of 1999 every public school in Tennessee will receive its Internet service filtered, Gov. Don Sundquist said November 16. Sundquist made the announcement while demonstrating N2H2's Bess blocking software at Knoxville's Centennial High School during the annual meeting of the Tennessee School Boards Association.
Some 70% of the state's more than 4,000 schools already employ Bess as a function of receiving their centralized graphical Web access through Education Networks of America, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported November 17. "The schools' attitude is that it's about time," ENA president Al Ganier remarked, noting that Internet use has doubled in the past two months since teachers in filtered schools are no longer discouraging students' surfing for fear of what they might find.
Tennessee Library Association President Martha Earl told American Libraries the group had advised lawmakers of their opposition to mandated filtering in August, after joining the ranks of state associations endorsing local control.
Posted November 23, 1998.