E-rate proves to be a powerful tool for raising student achievement

By Del Stover

7/22/03 -- At a time when many public schools are facing severe budget shortfalls, the E-rate program is funding technology that will help schools improve student achievement and comply with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, says a new report on the $2.25 billion-a-year federal program.

The influx of technology funds -- designed to provide affordable telecommunications and Internet service to public schools and libraries -- also is transforming rural education and expanding learning opportunities for special education students.

Speaking at a Washington, D.C., press conference where the report was released July 8, NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant made clear that the E-rate has proven itself as a powerful force for public education.

"The E-rate is fundamental to our national dream to indeed leave no child behind and to ensure that all children succeed in an ever-changing global society," she says.

The report, E-Rate: A Vision of Opportunity and Innovation, was released by the Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC), a group of education and library organizations, including NSBA, that advocates for the interests of schools and libraries on telecommunications issues.

Among its conclusions, the report states that E-rate-funded technology has eased the isolation of rural schools across America. Today, rural schools are expanding course offerings and improving teacher training to a degree impossible without the use of distance-learning programs.

In Alaska's Lower Kuskokwim School District, which serves a number of extremely isolated schools, broadband Internet access and videoconferencing capabilities allow schools to provide algebra and geometry instruction despite the lack of certified math teachers, the report states.

"Technology is bringing remote Eskimo villages into the 21st century," says Ted Berry, the technology coordinator for the district.

Also benefiting greatly from the E-rate program are special education students, says Jon Bernstein, author of the EdLiNC report.

At the Rochester (N.Y.) School for the Deaf, for example, deaf students use e-mail to communicate with one another and the hearing world. Students at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf can sign on to five online classes per day in American Sign Language.

"Deaf children usually miss out on some of the incidental learning that other students enjoy," Bernstein says. "So access to the Internet is important because of the equality it allows."

But all students and schools benefit from the E-rate program, says Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy.

"Largely as a result of the E-rate, we now know 90 percent of public school classrooms have Internet access," she says. "It's truly an equalizer and a levelizer for so many students."

E-rate funds also are proving invaluable in helping schools meet NCLB mandates, the report states. Schools are creating networks to track student progress, identify academic "problem areas," and redirect resources to bolster student performance.

The technology also is helping many schools meet the teacher-quality requirements of NCLB. In Alaska, says the report, Superintendent Kim Langton of the Kuspuk school district states federal mandates would be impossible to fulfill without online professional development courses now available to teachers.

Meanwhile, school officials in Roane County, W.Va., cite student access to online courses, videoconferencing, and Internet resources for helping boost county scores on state exams by 12 to 15 percent.

In Bridgeport, Wash., the superintendent says, "We have seen an increase in our reading comprehension tests because the computer infrastructure has provided our students the opportunity to harness and integrate technology."

Such success has been possible only because the E-rate program provides consistent funding to public schools, says Bryant, who also serves as vice chair of the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Co., which oversees the E-rate program.

"In these economically challenging times, when so many school districts are struggling with NCLB, state budget crises, and local budget crises, the E-rate provides some [necessary] financial resources," she says. At NSBA, "we hear first-hand from school boards and superintendents the real difference the program is having on their lives."

Since its creation as part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the E-rate program has provided more than $10.3 billion in discounted telecommunications services to schools and libraries across the nation. Funds are raised through fees placed on the telecommunications industry.

In recent months, some questions have been raised about reports of potential misuse of E-rate funds. But Abernathy says the FCC has made several improvements to ensure E-rate funds are "distributed properly" and that school applications will be easier to submit.