Imagine a business that with great ingenuity and expenditure of resources placed a telephone line in every worker's office, but failed to provide phone receivers for them. A new CEO of the firm would immediately recognize the need to place a phone receiver in every office with a phone line to make those lines usable. This scenario is absurd because it would not be sensible to deliver phone lines to offices without phone receivers. In fact, it is inconceivable that the business market would create such a system. Yet this is precisely the current state of affairs in schools. For a number of years, Henry Jay Becker and his colleagues have conducted a series of studies monitoring use of computers in schools. In their 1999 report, Teacher and Teacher Directed Use of Computers & Software, they noted that, "Regular use of computers with students is highly dependent on access to computers ... most teachers have relatively few computers compared to the number of students in their classroom." This article discusses the following related topics: The Last Mile Problem; Next Steps; Strategies for Technological Access; A Tale of Two Technologies; and Need for Recognition. It concludes that during the past decade, American taxpayers have provided billions to ensure that the Internet reaches every school and almost every classroom. This is the largest single discretionary investment that has been made in schools. We have a responsibility to make effective use of this investment to yield a commensurate educational return. If we are successful in meeting this challenge and providing the necessary leadership, the last mile technologically will become the first mile in educational advances for our students.