WorldCom Sneezes, MarcoPolo Trembles

The fallout from the WorldCom fiasco may soon affect teachers and students. The troubled telecommunications giant recently cancelled funding for MarcoPolo, the standards-based, Internet content provider for K–12 teachers and classrooms. MarcoPolo's Web offerings have included National Geographic's Xpeditions and the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge, as well as lesson plans and interactive activities for students. WorldCom and its predecessor, MCI, had poured millions into the project over the past five years.

In an effort to save the content provider, supporters have established the MarcoPolo Education Foundation, a public charity that will seek to find new funding. The foundation estimates it will need to raise more than $20 million annually from federal, state, and private sources to keep the project afloat. Caleb Schutz, the foundation's inaugural president, urges librarians to rally in support. "Librarians can be extremely important to us because the voice of the librarian and educator needs to be heard on this one," he says. "WorldCom is off the site."

To learn more, visit the project's Web site at www.marcopolo-education.org.—M. M.