MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) - Hundreds of Wisconsin schools and public libraries could get high-speed Internet service over the next year-and-a-half.

Governor Jim Doyle asked the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee Monday to approve the use of federal stimulus funds to add fiber optic connections throughout the state. 70 school districts could be connected by the end of this year, and libraries in 380 communities would be hooked up by the end of 2011.

Doyle says the stimulus funds would ensure that schools and libraries will have the additional bandwidth they need to create equal access to the Internet “regardless of demographics, geography, or economic status.” Doyle says the effort would also help law enforcement and businesses in the areas where the fiber optics would be installed.