Public schools across the country have included the Internet as a mandatory part of their educational infrastructure, with a survey by the Department of Education finding 95 percent of schools connected to the Internet by 1999, the Associated Press reports.

The percentage of public schools with Internet access has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, the survey reports, increasing from just over one-third in 1994. Federal officials attribute the growth to various factors, including increases in donations from technology companies and state and federal funding.

"Technology can improve student performance and provide the competitive skills necessary for future success," Education Secretary Richard Riley told the AP. "It is critical that we provide a link for those in the smallest towns to the largest cities."

However, while having Internet access is rapidly becoming a ubiquitous condition in American public schools, being able to fully utilize the Internet in education is not, the AP reports. The digital divide is showing up in the disparity in the number of classrooms with Internet access, with high-poverty schools wiring 39 percent of their classrooms, while 74 percent in low-poverty schools are connected.

The size of the school also made a difference in access for students: Large schools had ten students for every computer with Internet access, while small schools were at a 6 to 1 ratio.

The survey was based on a representative sample of 1,000 public schools taken in the fall of 1999, AP reports. The margin of error is plus or minus 1 to 3 percentage points.

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