The utilization of teleconferencing as part of the information highway, mainly among schools in North Carolina, is examined. The National Information Infrastructure, outlined by Vice President Gore in January 1994, is the official name of the information system. The U.S. Congress issued four pieces of legislation in support of high-tech development. A number of states have initiated their own branch of the information highway. Two of the most ambitious projects are underway in North Carolina and California. North Carolina has employed a "Push" strategy whereby it emphasizes the public sector; California uses a "Pull" strategy that emphasizes commercial interests. North Carolina has adopted a statewide fiber-optic network called the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) and in 1994 began construction on a $160 million statewide Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network that will link state agencies, schools and universities, courts, doctors and hospitals, local governments, and private companies. A partial list of the offerings of the NCIH in schools includes distance learning, video field trips, video teleconferences, collaborative projects, teacher training, online research, electronic mail, and home/school communication. While the cost curve of incorporating the technology in schools continues to decline, the expense of joining NCIH is still considerable. Advantages of using the information highway for education include reducing the constraints of time and place, the ability to playback lessons, distance learning for senior citizens, and outreach programs to the handicapped. Opposition to the technology focuses on issues of performance failure, inability to translate crucial empiricism in science classes or nonverbal elements of language classes, and expense. Teleconferencing, in the future, may decrease or replace the traditional classroom; it may achieve equilibrium in schools, or put poorer counties at a great disadvantage. (Contains 47 references.) (AEF)