In the 17 years since the publication of "A Nation at Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), Americans have grown steadily more anxious about the quality of their public schools. Business leaders have complained that high school graduates are often unable to perform even rudimentary tasks, and parents have clamored in ever greater numbers for reform - longer school days, stricter disciplinary standards and a greater emphasis on traditional skills such as reading, writing and mathematics...
Cisco C.E.O. John Chambers calls it "the next big killer application." At stake: a $740 billion industry.....

Several education online courses companies now use Internet portals to sell conventional products and services - desks and chairs, office and classroom supplies, even payroll services. Cash-strapped schools with relatively fixed resources are increasingly outsourcing non-educational services in order to retain dollars for the classroom. By using the Web to put the product squarely before the customer, companies are able to compete nationally in an area that was previously balkanized along local or regional lines. A school shopping for desks in California was once limited to four or five familiar furniture makers; soon, it will be able to choose among a vast network of suppliers across the country..