When the FCC launched its National Broadband Map last month, one of the uses I immediately saw for it -- and wrote about here -- was as a way for communities to assess the speed and availability of Internet in their schools and libraries. Indeed, a recent FCC survey among those institutions found 80% of schools and libraries reporting that their Internet access does not meet their needs.

The FCC and the Department of Education have made the sorry state of broadband availability in schools even more apparent today, by rolling out an additional version of the National Broadband Map, this one focusing specifically on its availability in U.S. schools.

When Curt Hopkins, one of my colleagues at ReadWriteWeb, wrote about the FCC's map back in February, he said that it revealed am "unconnected nation." And the new data today shows what will, I'm sure, surprise no one: unconnected schools.

It's important to note here that the FCC data is not real time (for a better broadband map with real-time data and details about price, speed, and quality, check out Broadband.com). Nonetheless, it's a pretty sobering look into the broadband availability and speeds at our schools and universities.