Connecting Kids and Communities to the Future
May 1999

CONTENTS

What is the E-Rate?

Americans Support the E-Rate

Demand for the Program is Strong

Impact of Technology in Education

E-Rate Funding Insufficient

The Future

Conclusion

Technology for Learning Builds Success:
What We Know from Research

The E-Rate and the Schools

The E-Rate and Libraries

In Conclusion

References

Total Dollars by Discount Level and Type of Service

State by State E-Rate Discounts—Year One

Views on Discounted Telecommunication
Services for Schools and Libraries

Reports from Local Communities by State

Acknowledgements

EdLiNC Members

Introduction

The E-Rate program is playing a pivotal role in bringing technology to this nation's children and lifelong learners and is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans. This is the conclusion of a poll commissioned by the Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC) as part of this report. Furthermore, the facts and findings in this report demonstrate the important catalytic role the E-Rate is playing in bringing affordable access to telecommunications and advanced services in schools and libraries. The report also sheds light on the innovative strategies schools and libraries are using to maximize the impact of technology with support from the E-Rate.

The following are some of the key findings in this report:

1. The public strongly supports the introduction of information technology into our nation's schools and libraries. As information technology becomes more and more important in our global economy, Americans have come to overwhelmingly support the need for computers in our nation's classrooms. A non-partisan poll commissioned by EdLiNC found that 87% of respondents support the mission of the E-Rate program.

2. Schools and libraries are eager to adopt technology, but prior to the E-Rate many lacked the funding to do so. Schools and libraries filed more than 32,000 applications for E-Rate support in the second year of the program, increased by more than 2,000 over year one. These year-two applications are requesting over $2.4 billion in discounts to help pay for Internet connections, telecommunications services, and internal connections in public libraries and elementary and secondary schools.

3. Educational technology benefits kids and lifelong learners. The introduction of information technologies in our schools and libraries has dramatically helped learners of all ages - from children to senior citizens - looking for information on the latest developments around the world.

4. The E-Rate program's full effectiveness has been hampered by a shortage of funding. Schools' and libraries' need for discounts dramatically outstripped the amount of funding provided. In order to make the E-Rate work effectively for all schools and libraries, full funding for the program should be restored.

This report incorporates several different research projects undertaken by the Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC) during the winter of 1998-1999.

Those projects include:

• A survey of several dozen E-Rate applicants about their applications and the impacts that the program has had on their schools or libraries;

• A nationwide poll of 1000 households about their attitudes towards educational technologies and discounts for schools and libraries;

• A survey of current research literature showing the impacts of educational technologies on elementary and secondary school students and lifelong learners.

More information about EdLiNC is available from http://www.edlinc.org.

What is the E-Rate?
The Universal Service program for schools and libraries, more commonly known as the E-Rate, is a federal initiative that provides crucial discounts on telecommunications and Internet technologies to elementary and secondary schools and public libraries across this country. Thousands of libraries and schools, from every state in the nation, have participated in this program.

The E-Rate discount program was authorized by Congress as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to bring affordable access to the Internet, distance learning, and other telecommunications-based learning technologies to America's school children and library users. Building on the concept of universal service, which has made telephone service affordable for the last 60 years, the E-Rate is designed to bring access to these technology tools to all communities across America. The program provides discounts ranging between 20 and 90 percent, with the poorest schools and libraries receiving the deepest discounts. The discounts apply to Internet, telecommunications, and internal connections services.

Americans Support the E-Rate
After the first year of the E-Rate, EdLiNC determined that it was important to assess the impact of the program and assess public support for its continuation. In order to measure the continuing public support for the program, EdLiNC undertook a nationwide bipartisan poll. The results of this poll of 1000 randomly selected registered voters surveyed between March 23 and March 25, 1999, are impressive:

• 87% of Americans support providing discounts to needy schools and libraries;

• 83% of Americans think that Internet access in schools and libraries will improve educational opportunities for all Americans;

• 87% of Americans support continuing discounts for libraries and schools.

These poll findings send a clear signal that the American people support the E-Rate and are unswayed by politically motivated attacks on the program.

Demand for the Program is Strong
In the first year of the program, the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company received just over 30,000 applications for funding from schools and libraries. In the second year's application cycle, which closed in April 1999, more than 32,000 applications were submitted — an increase of almost 7%. Year-two applications represent a funding demand figure of $2.435 billion. This increase clearly demonstrates both the need and growing support for the program. It also underscores the importance of providing sufficient funding to ensure that all valid applications receive E-Rate funding. As a result of massive funding reductions in the first year, some applicants received no funding at all, while many others received only part of the funding for which they were eligible.

The increased number of applications clearly shows that, despite the funding shortfalls encountered during the first funding year, schools and libraries remain eager to participate in the E-Rate program and are counting on E-Rate discounts.

Funding Analysis-Year One
During the 1998-funding year, schools and libraries filed just over 30,000 applications for discounted services under the E-Rate program. Despite the funding shortfalls, 25,785 of those applications were at least partially funded, for a total of $1.67 billion over the first 18 months of the program.¹

Applications were prioritized based on the level of discount, with the applications representing the highest discounts receiving priority treatment. Furthermore, applications for the "internal connections" (i.e. connections to classrooms and workstations) category were only funded for applicants with discounts from 70% to 90%; applications for internal connections from schools and libraries with discount levels from 20% to 70% were rejected because of the funding shortfall.

Reaching the Poorest Communities
Of the $1.67 billion in funding, the vast majority went to applicants with high discount levels. Schools and libraries with discounts of 90% or higher received $430 million in discounts, 26% of the total funding for the program. Another 34% of the total funding — $566 million — went to applicants with discounts of 80%-89%. An additional $322 million, or 19% of the total funding, went to schools and libraries with discounts from 70%-79%. Only 6.4% of the total funding ($109 million) went to schools and libraries with discounts of less than 50%. The spread for funding shows that one goal of the program to bring services to the neediest schools and libraries throughout the country is well on its way to being met.

The Impact of the E-Rate in Local Communities
One of the goals of the program as implemented by the Federal Communications Commission was to allow local school districts and library systems to determine how the discounts fit into their technology plan. This broad flexibility is reflected in the list of eligible services, and as a result different school districts and library systems are using the funding in different ways. The results show how federal funding and local know-how can be combined to best serve the needs of the community.
For example:

Large, urban school districts, which historically have suffered from a severe lack of resources, have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the E-Rate program.

• The Chicago Public School District, which serves 430,000 students on 559 campuses, received $47.5 million in funding for telecommunications and networking services. The district itself is cash-strapped, and could ill afford the infrastructure upgrades at each of its schools that would be necessary to bring high speed Internet access to its students. As a result of the E-Rate, however, Internet access is being brought to at least one classroom in every one of the district's schools this year. Furthermore, they intend to bring Internet access to an additional 10 classrooms at each school in the next year. The access itself is being used to foster cross-disciplinary projects, such as combined English and Science research projects.

The program's positive impact on extremely remote and rural schools has been tremendous.

• The Kuspuk School District in Aniak, Alaska has a problem very different from Chicago's: the district consists of eleven schools spread among eight villages along the Kiskokwim River and not a single one of the villages are accessible by road. Because of the district's remote location, local Internet access has never been available, and long distance connections were prohibitively expensive. As a result of the E-Rate, the Kuspuk School District has been able to wire all of its school buildings and install satellite-based Internet connections at every school. As a result, Yupik Eskimo children in remote, rural Alaska now have access to the myriad learning tools of the Internet.

E-Rate benefits affect the entire community

• The Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, is bringing technology to the entire community. Using the E-Rate to leverage funding from other sources, the library has expanded its Internet connectivity in every branch, bringing Internet access to numerous communities in the Baltimore area. In addition, the library offers free technology classes to the public. The classes, which are taught by both library staff and volunteers, cover a wide range of topics, including an introduction to computers, basic word processing, and even "Internet for Families." All of the classes are offered free of charge to the public. These classes are bringing the benefits of technology to families and communities throughout the Baltimore area, thanks in part to the E-Rate.

The E-Rate is being used to level the playing field, bringing equal resources to students in large, diverse school districts.

• The Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas, had a unique problem: how to address the needs of the district's 299 schools with a socially and ethnically diverse group of approximately 211,000 students, many of whom come from poor households. Approximately 27% of the students served by the district are not yet fluent in English. Although some of the more affluent schools in the district have had Internet access for years, many have never been able to afford the high cost of wiring their campuses and the steep monthly costs for Internet access. The E-Rate has allowed the district to wire many of the schools that have not been able to afford Internet access. Without the E-Rate, many of the students — particularly low-income and minority students — would not have access to the Internet through their schools.

Small, private schools have benefited from the E-Rate.

• St. Jude Thaddeus School, a small parochial school in Havre, Montana, has an enrollment of 225 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Before the E-Rate, the school was unable to bring Internet access to its students because of the prohibitive costs. However, E-Rate discounts have allowed them to bring access to both elementary and middle school students.

The E-Rate has been used to leverage additional funding and institute a more powerful outcome.

• In Louisiana, the $500,000 in E-Rate funding received by the State Library of Louisiana combined with $2,000,000 in state funding and $7,000,000 from the Gates Library Foundation to enable the state library to provide Internet access and computers for every library in the state. While just three years ago many parts of Louisiana were entirely cut off from the Internet, now every library in the state - from New Orleans to the bayou - has computers and fast Internet access, which is available for free to all 4.3 million Louisianans.

Impact of Technology in Education
Technology has a number of effects on students of all ages. Some of these effects are difficult to quantify, while others are more easily measured. For example, technology can be used to help foster partnerships between schools and libraries. In one example, a partnership between a local school district and public library in Anderson, Indiana, led to the creation of the community technology center, dramatically increased the circulation of books (especially among students), and has given students the opportunity to access the Internet after school hours to work on school-related projects. Although it is difficult to quantify the direct impact technology has had on the students, the impact on the school, the library, and the community are self-evident. Teachers, librarians, and other members of the community feel the partnership has been extremely positive, fostering new learning and new relationships between community institutions.

Research has found significant impacts from technology use in such areas as enhanced basic skills and higher order thinking. In particular, technology fosters students' writing abilities; students using computers typically make gains three times more quickly than students without computers. Technology and the use of computers has also been shown to greatly benefit students' problem solving and higher-order thinking skills. Finally, one of technology's greatest impacts on students is that it increases their desire to learn.

Using technology in schools also gives students valuable skills that employers require. Basic familiarity with computers and computer programs is no longer optional for most jobs. Much as learning to read and write is fundamental for every student, learning to use a computer must be a key ingredient in every child's education.

E-Rate Funding Insufficient in Year One
Unfortunately, approximately 15% of those who applied for the program in year one did not receive any funding at all, while many others received significantly less funding than they had originally requested. In particular, no internal connections were funded for applicants with discount levels below 70%. This cutoff has left many relatively poor communities without resources. For instance, an average district or library with a 70% discount rate would have between 35% and 55% of its children eligible for free and reduced price lunch. However, the strongest effect of the shortfall has been in the numerous lower middle class and middle class communities, many of which lack the funding to be able to pursue this type of project without state or federal assistance.

The funding shortfall was caused by dramatic cuts to the program budget. Initially, the program was slated to receive up to $2.25 billion in funding each year. However, despite strong demand by schools and libraries, the program was funded at only $1.67 billion over its first 18 months - less than half of the original funding level. Whether the original funding level will be restored for the second funding year or the second year will face a similar shortfall is unclear at this time. What is clear, however, is that funding the program at a level less than the amount requested by eligible schools and libraries will have a detrimental effect on our nation's schools and libraries.

The Future
What does the future of the E-Rate look like? The overwhelming demand by schools and libraries for E-Rate funding shows there is clearly a strong support and need for technology funding beyond what schools are able to raise locally. The simple fact that applications for the second year have exceeded applications for the first year - despite the fact that many first year applications went unfunded - shows that libraries and schools are counting on this program to help them bring 21st century learning resources to our children and communities.

The first funding year also showed that relatively small amounts of federal money can make a large difference to cash-strapped schools and libraries, especially when used to help leverage other sources of funding. Several states, such as Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Mississippi, took advantage of the E-Rate program to implement or accelerate state level programs to connect schools and libraries. These programs would not have been as successful if they had not been able to leverage the discounts provided by the E-Rate.

From the perspective of schools and libraries applying for the program, a number of lessons were learned during the first year. Many applicants felt that the application process could be simplified significantly.² However, most also said that the process was significantly easier in the second year. One applicant likened the process to giving birth: "after all the frustration, and the pain, the outcome is wonderful, and you can do nothing but speak positively and smile."

Conclusion
With the help of the E-Rate, schools and libraries are adopting technology at an incredible pace — and with it, the myriad benefits that technology brings to students and lifelong learners. Communities across this nation are beginning to feel the benefit of access to technology. The public overwhelmingly supports both the expansion of information technology in schools and libraries and the implementation of discounts in order to make technology affordable for schools and libraries.

Without the E-Rate, schools and libraries would be far less able to bring the educational benefits of the E-Rate to their students and communities. In fact, even with the E-Rate, many schools and libraries have been hamstrung by the shortfalls in E-Rate funding. Clearly, if the goal of universal access to technology is to be achieved through our nation's schools and libraries, the E-Rate program must be funded at a level sufficient to meet the demand of these institutions.

Footnotes

1. The first funding year, which was originally scheduled to last from January 1, 1998, to December 1, 1998, was extended for an additional six months. Hence, the program's funding on the first 12 month period is only $1.1 billion, as opposed to the originally proposed $2.25 billion. Back to text.

2. The Schools and Libraries Division has already inaugurated a "Year 3 Task Force" which will, among other things, make recommendations for simplifying the application process. Back to text.

Technology for Learning Builds Success: What We Know From Research

By Saul Rockman, Rockman et. al.

Technology has become a central and vital part of our society. Just as businesses are now beginning to see the impact of their investments, computers and telecommunications technology are just starting to show improvements in the conduct and productivity of schools and libraries. Technology is here to stay, in homes, in businesses, and in schools and libraries. New technologies and easy access to information are changing traditional concepts of where, when, and how students of all ages learn.

As the next Millennium approaches, all American citizens must be technologically literate. The fact of the matter is that for an individual today to be considered literate he or she must have communication and information-processing skills that go well beyond the ability to read and write. Computer use skills have become critical to most all endeavors involving learning, job opportunities, health and welfare services, and economic security. Strengthening a U.S. labor pool that is already deficient in "high-skilled knowledge workers" cannot continue to be the responsibility of prospective employers. Technological literacy and ongoing access to information technology resources is essential, and for many school-aged children and adults, our schools and libraries may be their only opportunity to access and use a networked computer.

As schools' and libraries' technology capabilities have increased, important educational and job-readiness benefits have accrued. Studies have accumulated substantive evidence of how computers and telecommunications can be used to enhance lifelong learning. In many school classrooms and in public libraries there has been a dramatic increase in access to information resources through the Internet. In the next few pages, we will point to the kinds of indicators that are emerging from elementary and secondary schools and public libraries.

The E-Rate and the Schools
Our nation's schools have persisted in finding appropriate and effective ways to bring computers and telecommunications into the classroom to successfully enhance learning and teaching. The topics below illustrate recent research on technology's impact.

Improved academic achievement
Technology has shown marked success in improving basic skills of students. The State of West Virginia approached the technology revolution as an opportunity to improve student learning and achievement. Through the state's Basic Skills/Computer Education (BS/CE) program begun more than eight years ago, students have had access to computers with skill development software. Significant gains were found in reading, writing, and math-areas that the software stressed. The program also turned out to be more cost-effective than other interventions and was especially successful with low income, low achieving, and rural students. These findings held even though the technology and pedagogy implemented are years behind current technology interventions. (Mann, D. et al. 1999)

Computers and telecommunications technology have contributed to improved knowledge and better attitudes towards school subjects. In writing, the most common use of computers in schools and in business, studies have demonstrated that when teaching students to write, computer use results in substantial gains. (Means, 1994) In one study, students who were being taught writing and had access to computers had gains three times those of the comparison schools. (Rockman et al, 1995)

Enhanced problem solving and higher-order thinking skills
In addition to improvements on basic skills, telecommunications and computer technology have been effective in helping students master some of the more complex skills — those that business and industry see as critical for the future workforce. (SCANS, 1992) A recent study has demonstrated that students who actively use the Internet for classroom projects submit more ambitious and complete projects, and perform better on measures of information management and presentation of competing ideas. (CAST, 1997) Other recent research has shown that students who have full-time access to a personal laptop computer have greater strategic problem solving skills than do comparison groups that have less access to technology. (Rockman et al, 1998b)

Along with these skills, studies have shown that students who have substantial access to computers and telecommunications develop a greater sense of responsibility for, and a greater ability to manage their own learning, and improved school work habits. (Wenglinsky, 1998; Rockman et al, 1998a;b; Adnanes and Ronning, 1998)

Increased motivation to learn
One of the most consistent outcomes of greater student access to computers and telecommunications technologies in classrooms has been that student interest in, and satisfaction with, schooling increases (US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1995). Online resources boost student interest and motivation in the classroom by permitting greater diversity of learning goals, projects, and possible outcomes. Learning also becomes more realistic and authentic as classrooms get online. There is a wealth of descriptive evidence on the beneficial effects of online collaboration with other students and with experts and other resources beyond the classroom. (Cohen, 1997) Additionally, students are motivated to learn content in greater depth because they have access to resources beyond their classroom, more current than their textbook, and more knowledgeable than their teacher. (Bonk, Hay, and Fischler, 1996; CAST, 1997)

Success with at-risk students
At-risk students who use technology are showing greater interest and participation in classroom activities. Learners who are alienated from traditional school instructional activities because of physical or learning disabilities, or social problems often develop renewed enthusiasm when using computers and telecommunications technologies. Students experiencing social difficulties at school (Diggs, 1997) and those with learning disabilities (Delzell and Hamill, 1996), as well as those who are blind (Kapperman, 1997) or deaf (Luft, 1997; Weber, 1997) are all surviving and often succeeding in school as a benefit of access to technology.

Changes in schools and schooling
Increasing evidence points to the beneficial relationship between school reform and access and use of computers and telecommunications technologies. (Means, 1994; Dede, 1997)

Technology supports a range of school reform initiatives — from back-to-basics to the more student-centered efforts. Increased technology access and improved teacher competencies make it possible for students to encounter different kinds of learning and new classroom arrangements. When classrooms have access to computers and online technologies, there is less teacher-led activity and students work together in small groups, undertaking projects and collaborating on reaching a common goal. (Kerr 1996b; Rockman et al, 1998b) A review of research concluded that small group learning with computer technology has positive impacts on group task performance, individual achievement, and attitudes towards learning. (Lou, Abrami and Muni, 1998)

The E-Rate and Libraries
Despite shrinking budgets and resources, libraries are serving a key role in bringing the information age to all Americans. Libraries reach essentially all communities and approximately two-thirds of the public has visited a public library in the past year. (NCES, 1998) Increasingly, libraries provide technology access for a portion of the community that has no other means to obtain it. Internet access is available in seven out of ten public libraries.

Public libraries help bridge the digital divide
Internet access in libraries reaches the under-served areas of the country. More than half of all public libraries are located in rural areas. Almost one in five public libraries serve a poverty area. Public access to the Internet is about equal in poverty and non-poverty areas. However, a smaller proportion of rural libraries (68 percent) offer public Internet access than do their urban counterparts (84 percent). For many library patrons, access is sometimes difficult, in that nearly two-thirds of libraries that offer Internet service had only one or two public Internet access stations. (Bertot and Mcclure, 1998)

In a Pennsylvania study, 35 percent of the patrons who used the library to access the Internet did not have any other way to reach this important information resource. (Mcclure and Bertot, 1997)

Creative outreach from libraries
As libraries make progress in providing public workstations and training opportunities to the public, information on specific subjects like health and employment becomes more widely available. Libraries are finding creative ways to provide that public access. The Muncie (IN) Public Library uses a "Cybermobile" to bring new technology to senior centers and day care centers. The Cybermobile provides six computers with Internet access and a space for classes on technology.

Schools and libraries collaborate for community access
With a Department of Education Technology Innovation Challenge Grant, the Anderson (IN) schools formed a partnership with the public library. The library's Community Technology Center used computers supplied by the Grant and Internet connections through the school's server to provide a place for students to do homework and to offer the general community technology classes and telecommunications access. As a consequence, overall library activity has increased significantly. In 1998, more than 450,000 patrons visited the library, a 42 percent increase from 1997 and circulation went up 25 percent. Moreover, the Community Technology Center is providing training for over 2,000 people each year and is averaging 2,200 users per month. (Rockman et al, 1999)

In Conclusion
The research presented here is only a part of what could be included. There is persuasive evidence that parents become more involved in their child's education, that students are engaging more challenging curricula, that adults are creating more effective resumes and consequently finding new jobs — all because they have access to computers and telecommunications technology in schools and libraries. There is ample evidence that computers and telecommunications can work to reach the goals we have set for our schools and for our communities. We need only to ensure that the opportunities continue to grow and exist for all.

References:

Adnanes, M., & Ronning, W. M. (1998). Computer-networks in education: A better way to learn? Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 14 (2), 148-157.

Bertot, J.C. and Mcclure, C.R. (1998). The 1998 national survey of public library outlet Internet connectivity. Summary.

Bonk, C. J., Hay, K. E., & Fischler, R. B. (1996). Five key resources for an electronic community of elementary student weather forecasters. Journal of computing in childhood education, 7 (1-2), 93-118.

Cohen, K. C. (Ed.) (1997). Internet links for science education: Student-scientist partnerships. New York: Plenum Press.

Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). (1996). The role of online communications in schools: a national study. Peabody, MA: Author.

Dede, C. (1998). The scaling-up process for technology-based educational innovations. In C. Dede (Ed.), ASCD 1998 yearbook on learning with technology (pp. 199-216). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Delzell, N., and Hamill, K. (1996). A special way to meet special needs. Multimedia Schools, 3(1), 71-74.

Diggs, C. S. (1997). Technology: A key to unlocking at-risk students. Learning and leading with technology, 25 (2), 38-40.

Gallup Organization. (1998). Usage and perception study for the American Library Association. Lincoln, NE: Author.

Kapperman, G. (1997). Project Vision: Visually impaired students and Internet opportunities now. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 406 762.

Kerr, S. T. (1996). Lever and fulcrum: Educational technology in teachers, thought and practice. In S. T. Kerr (Ed.), Technology and the future of schooling, Ninety-fifth yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education (pp. 115-136).

Lou, Y., Abrami, P. C., and Muni, S. (1998). Effects of social context when learning with computer technology: A series of meta-analyses. Paper presentation at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.

Luft, P. (1997). Visual activities using the Internet: Enhancing experimental learning, concept development and literacy. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 406 779.

Mann, D. et al. (1999). West Virginia story: Achievement gains from a statewide comprehensive instructional technology program. Available from Milken Exchange at www.milkenexchange.org.

Mcclure, C.R. and Bertot, J.C. (1997). Evaluation of the "Online at Pennsylvania Libraries" Project.

Means, B. (Ed.) (1994). Technology and education reform: The reality behind the promise. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (1998). Public libraries in the United States: FY 1996, NCES 98-272. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, US ED.

Rockman et al (1995) Assessing the growth: The Buddy Project evaluation, 1994-5. San Francisco: Author.

Rockman et al (1998a) Beyond Buddy: The sustained influence of the Buddy System Project. San Francisco: Author.

Rockman et al (1998b) Powerful tools for schooling: Second year study of the laptop program. San Francisco: Author.

Rockman et al (1999) ACT Now! Project's library partnership pays off. Report to the project. San Francisco: Author.

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (1995). Teachers and technology: Making the connection. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Weber, J. (1997). Teacher support in mainstreaming deaf and hard hearing students in rural Saskatchewan, Canada. Computer Assisted Education for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, 23 (1), 40-48.

Year One Funding Discount Tables

Total Dollars by Discount Level and Type of Service
This chart illustrates the total amount of discounts committed to school and library applicants at each discount level. It also displays the amount of discount distributed for each discount category - telecommunications, Internet access and internal connections. Strikingly, 79 percent of discounts were provided to the poorest school and library applicants who qualified for 70-90 percent discounts. Even excluding internal connections discounts which were only provided to applicants in the 70-90 percent discount bands, nearly 50 percent of the funding for telecommunications and internet categories was provided to applicants in the 70-90 percent bands.

State by State E-Rate Discounts - Year One
The following provides information on the total dollars in discounts committed to school and library applicants in every state. It also provides the total number of funded applicants by state. Some applicants represented individual school or libraries, ot hers represented consortia or an entire state.

Views on Discounted Telecommunications Services for Schools and Libraries

Provided by Lake, Snell Perry & Associates/Tarrance Group

A recent national poll finds that voters strongly favor schools and libraries continuing to receive discounted telecommunications services. These findings are based on a nationwide poll among 1000 registered voters, 18 years of age or older conducted between March 23-25, 1999 by professional interviewers. The margin of error for this survey is +/-3.0 percent.

• Half of voters use the school or library for Internet access on a weekly or daily basis (26 percent daily, 15 percent two to three times a week, 9 percent once a week). An additional eight percent say they use it less than once a week, while 36 percent say they never use Internet access at schools or libraries.

• Voters who are most likely to use their schools or libraries for Internet access are voters under 50, have a college education, have children under 18, especially kids over the age of seven, live in the suburbs or a rural area, African-American men, and Hispanic women.

• Voters who say they never use their schools or libraries for Internet access are seniors (60 percent), have a high school education (48 percent), retired women (54 percent), and have no children under 18 (42 percent).

• Voters are in strong agreement that Internet access in schools and libraries improves educational opportunities for all Americans. Eighty-three percent of voters agree with this statement, with 58 percent in strong agreement.

• At least three-quarters of every demographic sub-group agree with this statement and nearly half are in strong agreement.

• The intensity of agreement with this statement increases with the usage of the libraries or schools for Internet access - 72 percent of daily users strongly agree with this statement, 62 percent of voters who use it two to three times a week, 51 percent of voters who use it once a week, 54 percent of voters who use it less than once a week, and 50 percent of voters who never use it strongly agree.

• Voters strongly favor schools and libraries in rural and high poverty areas receiving discounts so they have the same affordable access and availability to technology as schools and libraries in wealthy areas. Eighty-seven percent favor these discounts, with 68 percent strongly in favor. Only eight percent oppose these areas receiving discounts.

• Nearly eight out of ten voters in every demographic subgroup favor these areas receiving discounts, with strong majorities strongly in favor. Those voters most in favor are voters ages 50 to 64 (73 percent strongly favor), voters with a high school education (73 percent), non-college educated women (75 percent), younger women (74 percent), voters with children ages 13 to 18 (77 percent), mothers (76 percent), working women (74 percent), residents in rural areas (74 percent), and Hispanic women (78 percent).

• While both men and women are favorable towards these discounts (86 percent and 88 percent respectively), women are more intensely favorable (72 percent strongly favor for women to 63 percent for men). However, among parents there is a larger gap with 90 percent of mothers favorable (76 percent strongly) and 84 percent of fathers favorable (64 percent strongly).

• Partisanship does not appear to affect overall support with 87 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of Independents, and 85 percent of Republicans in favor of providing discounts to rural areas. However, there is a difference in the intensity with which partisans hold these views (70 percent of Democrats strongly favor, 71 percent of Independents, and 63 percent of Republicans).

• Voters who use the schools or libraries for Internet access are slightly more favorable towards the discounts, but even voters who do not frequently use these places still strongly support the discounts (daily — 92 percent favor, 78 percent strongly; two to three times a week — 90 percent, 64 percent; once a week — 86 percent, 59 percent; less than once a week — 91 percent, 71 percent; never — 83 percent, 65 percent).

• Only a third of the electorate is aware that schools and libraries are eligible to receive discounted telecommunications services (34 percent aware, 63 percent not aware).

• Voters most aware are voters ages 40 to 49, college graduates, college educated women, voters with children ages 13 to 18, working mothers, voters in large cities and rural areas, and Hispanic women.

• Voters favor schools and libraries continuing to receive discounted telecommunications services. Eighty-seven percent of voters favor schools and libraries continuing to receive discounted telecommunications services so they can have more affordable access to online information resources, distance learning, and the Internet (67 percent strongly favor). Only seven percent oppose these discounts.

• At least three-quarters of voters in every demographic subgroup favor continuing the discounted telecommunication services, with nearly 60 percent in strong favor.

• Partisanship again does not appear to affect voters' overall views on the continuation of the discounts — 90 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of Independents, and 84 percent of Republicans. There is less variation among intensity with 70 percent of Democrats strongly in favor and 66 percent of Independents and Republicans strongly in favor.

• Again support for the continuation of these discounts is strong across usage categories with overall favorability ranging from 82 percent to 94 percent and strong favorability ranging from 63 percent to 77 percent.

• Support for discounts to these areas is strong regardless of current awareness surrounding the discounts. In fact support is stronger among those voters who say they were aware of the discounts. Ninety-one percent of voters who are aware of the discounts favor the discounts (74 percent strongly) and 94 percent favor the continuation of the discounts (77 per cent strongly). Among those voters who were not aware of the discounts, 87 percent favor them (67 percent strongly) and 86 percent favor their continuation (64 percent strongly).

Reports from Local Communities by State

Story Index

Alabama Troy City Schools	Massachusetts Boston Public Library
Alaska Kuspuk School District	Michigan Muskegon Public Schools Woodland Library Cooperative
Arizona Apache Junction Unified School District Fort Thomas School System	Mississippi Mississippi Library Commission
California San Bernardino City Unified School District	Missouri Dixon R-1 School District
Florida Florida Public Schools Jackson County School District State Library of Florida	Montana St. Jude Thaddeus School
Georgia Paideia School	Nevada Nevada State Library
Hawaii Department of Education of Hawaii St. Catherine School	New Jersey Atlantic County Library System
Illinois Chicago Public Schools Decatur Public Schools	New Mexico Central Consolidated School District #22 Logan School New Mexico
Indiana Jasper County Public Library	New York New York Public School System Yeshiva Darchai Torah
Iowa Davis County Schools East Greene School District Southern Prarie Education Agency	North Dakota Dickinson Public Schools Great Western Network
Kansas Atchison Public Schools Wichita Public Schools	Oregon St. Agatha Elementary School
Louisiana State Library of Louisiana	South Carolina Horry County School District
Maine Good Will-Hinckley School Houlton High School Maine School Administrative District #54	Texas Houston Independent School District
Maryland Enoch Pratt Free Library	Washington Grand Coulee Dam School District Mill A School
	West Virginia Boone County Schools West Virginia Library Commission

Troy City Schools
Troy, Alabama

Funding: $748,836
Services covered: telecommunications, internal connections, Internet access
Discount level: 77%

The three Troy City Schools educate 2200 students in a small college town in rural Alabama. Prior to the E-Rate, the Troy City Schools were only able to offer students limited Internet access from computers located in the libraries. The E-Rate is enabling the schools to connect every classroom and office to the schools' networked system as well as the Internet.

The teachers at the Troy City Schools are taking advantage of their new Internet access by enhancing the connection with parents. The school system also plans to become involved in an online mentoring program with the local university. The schools will be connected to the resources of the public library as well as some of the university's library resources. "The Internet places the world at a student's fingertips," says Linda Carroll, technology coordinator of the Troy City Board of Education.

Name: Linda Carroll
Title: Technology Coordinator
Phone: (334) 566-3741
Email: tcbe@p-c-net.net

Kuspuk School District
Aniak, Alaska

Funding Commitment: $41,000
Services Covered: telecommunications
Discount level: 85%

The Kuspuk School District consists of eleven schools along the Kuskokwim River in Alaska. There is no road access to any of the eight villages that make up the school district, the only way to get there is to fly from Anchorage in a single jet engine plane. The district educates 425 K-12 students in classes ranging in size from 14-180 students. More than 90% of the students of the Kuspuk School District are Yupik Eskimos.

The area along the Kuskokwim River is extremely rural. No local dial-up access is available; therefore Internet use is very expensive. Without the E-Rate the school district would never have been able to afford to connect any of the schools to the Internet. With the promise and savings of the E-Rate discounts, Kuspuk was able to rewire the school buildings, install Internet connections, and set up satellite dishes in every one of their eleven schools.

The villages have very limited resources. There are no big libraries or Universities anywhere nearby. According to Bobette Bush, Superintendent of Kuspuk School District, the Internet will open new worlds to the students of the area. In the months since the computers have been in place they have been able to prepare a multimedia presentation with information gained solely from the Internet, including downloaded pictures; prepare a project on women's literature for an English class; and develop a web page. Bush believes that, "The E-Rate has allowed the students who live along the Kuskokwim River to connect with the rest of the world."

Name: Bobette Bush
Title: Superintendent
Phone: (907) 675-4250
Email: bbush@aniak.ksd.schoolzone.net

Apache Junction Unified School District
Apache Junction, Arizona

Funding: $526,000
Services Covered: Internet access, telecommunications
Discount level: 39%

Apache Junction is located on the eastern rim of the Phoenix metropolitan area, near the foot of the scenic Superstition Mountains. Apache Junction attracts upwards of 35,000 winter tourists and retirees annually due to its temperature. The economy of Apache junction is based almost exclusively on recreation and retirement.

The E-Rate has enabled the Apache Junction School District to install fiber optics in their school buildings enabling them to provide computers with Internet access in the classroom. Until the E-Rate, Apache Junction only had computers with Internet access in the their technology lab; now, as a result of the discounts, they can afford three computers per classroom.

Carol Shepherd, the Information Specialist for the Apache Junction Schools, believes that computers will spark children's interest in learning. Technology incorporates learning with the excitement of using a computer and working on-line. She believes that technology "allows us to help our children achieve computer literacy and move successfully towards the workplace."

Name: Carol Shepherd
Title: Information Specialist
Phone: (602) 982-1110 x 2012
Email: cshepher@ajusd.org

Fort Thomas School System
Fort Thomas, Arizona

Funding: $128,176
Services Covered: internal connections, Internet access, telecommunications Discount: 90%

In Fort Thomas, Arizona, ten miles south of an Apache reservation, at least 86% of the students are of Apache extraction. Few have computers at home. At least 90% of the student body in the county's two schools qualify for free or reduced school lunches. This community is so poor that if not for the E-Rate discounts, none of the county's students would have any opportunity what-so-ever to be exposed to the technology that is rapidly transforming their world.

With the E-Rate discounts, the Fort Thomas School System, consisting of an elementary school and a combined middle and high school — has big plans. They hope to create an interactive learning environment for the 300 elementary school students, where each student is assigned his or her own e-mail address, to reach out and hear from other students and teachers around the world. They would also like to install a high-speed Internet connection at the middle/high school to allow students faster and more reliable Internet access to better prepare them for the work world.

"Our children's future rests on the E-Rate," says Fort Thomas Tech Coordinator, Eldon Woodall. "Without it, none of this would be possible."

Name: Eldon Woodall
Title: Tech Coordinator
Phone: (520) 485-9423
Email: ewoodall@ftthomas.k12.az.us

San Bernardino City Unified School District
San Bernardino, California

Funding: $20 million
Services Covered: telecommunications, installation of wiring for voice, video and data
Discount level: 83%

San Bernardino, located centrally in Southern California, is the largest city in the largest county in California. It is about a one hour drive from beaches, the desert, the mountains and downtown Los Angeles. There are 48,000 students enrolled in the San Bernardino district schools, a system both racially and ethnically diverse in its composition.

The E-Rate program is improving the quality of San Bernardino's technology programs in a variety of ways. The E-Rate has enabled them to take a California State Allocation Board Grant, which would have funded the wiring of six schools, and leverage it to wire 57 out of their 58 schools. District funds that would have been spent on wiring were reallocated to upgrade the electrical capacity of San Bernardino's two digital high schools. This upgrade is critical to appreciating the benefits of the internal connections provided at a discount through the E-Rate.

The E-Rate program has allowed San Bernardino to institute an e-mail exchange program, the goal of which is to increase reading in all curricular areas. The "Business Buddy" program matches third-graders with business partners who then correspond each week. The teacher provides the business buddy with the subject the class is studying, (spelling words, geography, etc.) so the correspondence is relevant to the rest of the curriculum. The "Business Buddy" program is approximately a 10-minute weekly commitment from the Business Buddy and provides the third-graders with a lifetime learning experience.

Name: Linda Smith
Title: Director of Technology
Phone: (909) 381-1209
Email: lindas_smith@eee.org

Florida Public Schools

Funding: $49 million
Services Covered: internal connections, Internet access, telecommunications Discount: 50-90%

Thanks to the E-Rate, Marion County, a small rural school district, will be able to wire all 44 of its schools. Dade County, which includes Miami's inner city schools, will be able to wire 100 of their 300-plus schools.

"A teacher with access to just one computer has millions of dollars of research and resources at their fingertips. Instead of using outdated textbooks, students and teachers are able to get the most recent information — what a powerful teaching tool," says Melinda Crowley, E-Rate coordinator for Florida Public Schools. "The discounts from the E-Rate are not only saving us money for telecommunication services, but also the access to online resources is enabling the schools to save money on content materials for the classroom," says Crowley.

"Computers train kids to be critical thinkers. They're forced to read more, to interact, to follow direction, and to evaluate," says Crowley. "Our schools operate on such little funding, but with the discount, we are able to channel that funding more productively, creating more of an equal resource opportunity of curriculum materials across the board for our students."

Name: Melinda Crowley
Title: E-Rate Coordinator
Phone: (850) 922-8255
Email: crowleym@popmail.firn.edu

Jackson County School District
Jackson County, Florida

Funding: $418,001
Services Covered: internal connections, telecommunications, Internet access
Discount level: 75%

In rural Jackson County, over half the students in the 15 public schools qualify for free or reduced lunches. One of the poorest communities in all of Florida, Jackson County has been counting on the E-Rate discounts to help link its schools to the information superhighway.

One of the benefits of the E-Rate is that Jackson County students and schools are now able to hook-in to the 'online' high school, a virtual high school, which offers courses in computer literacy. And, because of the E-Rate, all of the high schools are able to provide students with the opportunity to explore pre-college enrollment courses on the Internet and in local community colleges.

Jackson County intends to use the E-Rate discount for inside wiring. This will allow teachers in the district's two poorest elementary schools to publish students' writing on a website and give the high schools the high speed Internet connections to link students via distance learning to other schools in the district, area community colleges, and out-of-state schools as well. Jackson County schools also plan to implement two-way audio and visual video conferencing. Frank Waller, Jackson County Technology Coordinator, says, "the E-Rate will allow us to connect to schools in Tennessee, for example. The students can go visit aquariums on-line or take virtual tours to places they might have otherwise never had the opportunity to see."

Name: Frank Waller
Title: Tech Coordinator
Phone: (850) 482-1200 x211
Email: waller_f@popmail.firn.edu

State Library of Florida

Funding: $4,248,016
Services Covered: internal connections, telecommunications, Internet access
Discount level: 50-80%

The State Library of Florida encouraged organized library participation in the E-Rate in order to maximize benefit for the entire state. They are tracking individual awards for each library, as well as compiling statistics for the state.

As with many library systems, the State Library used E-Rate funds to leverage state library grants — which complimented E-Rate money with approximately $4.2 million in grants. The State money was used for hardware and software, knowing that the E-Rate program would enable the libraries to sustain the system.

Currently, 96% of public libraries in Florida are connected to the Internet. Over half of those outlets serve high poverty level areas.

The E-Rate has made quite a significant difference in the number of people using Florida Public Libraries services. In fact, business people driving on I-10 (the Interstate that crosses the state) are now known to exit the Interstate to pull into a public library and check their e-mail. It is a whole new dimension of library service.

Mark Flynn
Library Program Specialist
Phone: (850) 487-2651
Email: mflynn@stafla.dlis.state.fl.us

Paideia School
Atlanta, Georgia

Funding: $23,000
Services Covered: telecommunications, Internet service
Discount level: 40%

The Paideia School is a nonsectarian private school in the urban-residential Druid Hills-Inman Park section of the city of Atlanta. Paideia has a total enrollment of 750 students, grades K-12.

The E-Rate is improving the quality of Paideia's technology programs in a number of ways. For example, the E-Rate has made it possible for Paideia to upgrade the speed of Internet access in the classroom, and as a result the school has committed to purchasing faster computers. The funds being saved because of the E-Rate are going to pay for these hardware upgrades.

Kathryn Bailey, the Director of Technology at Paideia believes the E-Rate will improve student achievement because better Internet access means students will be better educated because of increased access to more information, as well as helping them to develop better reference skills. The Internet also helps to improve teacher quality by expanding the resources available to teachers. According to Bailey, "Better educated teachers mean better educated students."

Name: Kathryn Bailey
Title: Director of Technology
Phone: (404) 377-3491 x 324
Email: bailey.kathy@python.paideiaschool.org

Department of Education of Hawaii

Funding: $5 million
Services Covered: telecommunications, internal connections, Internet access
Discount: 64%

The Department of Education of Hawaii managed and submitted all of the applications for the 253 public schools in Hawaii, which has a diverse student population of 180,000 in rural and urban areas. The schools are located on seven different islands.

The E-Rate discount is being used to bring equal learning opportunities to all Hawaiian students. Until this year some of the schools were networked while others were not. By the end of this year, the E-Rate will enable all of their schools to have networked computers in their classrooms and in their technology labs.

The E-Rate is also helping Hawaii expand their distance learning program. The discounts will help pay for line costs for video conferencing for students on remote islands to see and speak with teachers on the main islands. K. Kim, the Telecommunications Director for the Department of Education, believes, "Students on remote islands depend on distance learning courses for not only the basics, but for supplements to their regular courses."

Name: K. Kim
Title: Telecom Director
Phone: (808) 377-7701
Email: kkim@k12.hi.us

St. Catherine School
Kapa'a, Hawaii

Funding: $28,500
Services Covered: internal connections
Discount level: 70%

St. Catherine's is a Catholic School, serving 132 students in Kapa'a, on the island of Kaua'i. Kaua'i is the oldest of the populated Hawaiian Islands. St. Catherine's serves a low income, rural population with students ranging from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

The E-Rate has enabled St. Catherine's to wire the classrooms in their school building, which would have been unattainable for years had it not been for E-Rate discounts. Teachers are now regularly using the Internet for research and e-mail is helping them to communicate with one another. Computers have also made school records easily accessible to staff.

The students at St. Catherine's are now participating in the Albatross Project, in which 600 schools are banding and tracking Albatross birds on both Tern and Kaua'i islands. The project involves conducting Internet-based research about the birds and e-mailing results of the studies between the schools. The students are especially excited about this project because the birds are being tracked from their island. Students in all grades are involved in this project, from the kindergartners who track the latitude and longitude to the eighth graders who figure out mathematical probabilities. Carol West, the Principal of St. Catherine's, believes, "The students are learning things they would never have the opportunity to learn and are having so much fun, they do not even realize they are learning."

Name: Carol West
Title: Principal
Phone: (808) 822-4212
Email: serfs@aloha.net

Chicago Public Schools
Chicago, Illinois

Funding: $47.4 million
Services Covered: internal connections, telecommunications
Discount level: 87%

The Chicago Public Schools District is the nation's third-largest school district. The school system operates 587 schools and serves 430,000 students. The racial and ethnic make-up of the schools is very diverse. Students from low-income families make up 83.7% of the total school enrollment.

The E-Rate is helping Chicago bring T-1 Internet connections to all of its school campuses. And this year every school will have at least one classroom connected to the Internet. Next year they plan to connect an additional ten classrooms in every school.

The Chicago Public School system plans to use technology in cross-disciplinary projects. The Biology and English departments will now be able to merge their subjects using computers and the Internet to learn about a variety of subjects while at the same time, becoming proficient in modern technology.

Estelle Maajid, the Manager of Systems Planning for the Chicago Public Schools, compared the E-Rate process to childbirth. According to Maajid, "It is like a lady in labor, after all the frustration, and the pain, the outcome is wonderful, and you can do nothing but speak positively and smile."

Name: Estelle Maajid
Title: Manager of Systems Planning
Phone: (773) 553-2500
Email: maajid@aix.cps.edu

Decatur Public Schools
Decatur, Illinois

Funding: $2.3 million
Services Covered: telecommunications, Internet access, internal connections
Discount level: 77%

Although surrounded by cornfields, "we're the urban poor," says Ken Arndt, the Superintendent of Schools in Decatur, Illinois. Decatur is the state's 13th largest school district, where half the student body is African-American.

"Four years ago, we were technologically the worst district in the state, a real embarrassment," Arndt recalls.

"The $5 million investment in technology and a $250, 000 thousand Federal Technology Literacy Challenge Grant energized Decatur," says Eisenhower High School math and science teacher Chuck Force. Now students train seniors to stay in touch via e-mail with their grandkids in college. Students' research "dazzled them" in a recent expo in Chicago.

"For us, the E-Rate represents the next plateau that only privileged communities had access to before. Our kids deserve no less," says Arndt. Decatur applied to wire all of their classrooms and Arndt believes, "We see the E-Rate like the federal school lunch program, a basic requirement for learning in the information age."

Name: Ken Arndt
Title: Superintendent of Schools
Phone: (217) 424-3010
Email: karndt@dps61.org

Jasper County Public Library
Rensselaer, Indiana

Funding: $11,000
Services provided: Internet access, telecommunications
Discount level: 53%

The Jasper County Public Library, with headquarters in Rensselaer, IN, a town halfway between Chicago and Indianapolis, consists of three library branches serving a population of 27,500. There is an electrical power plant and a few factories in the county but most of the economy is dependent on agriculture.

With the savings from the E-Rate, Jasper County Public Library plans to upgrade and replace workstations with Y2K compliant machines powerful enough to hold newly installed CD-ROM databases, which their current system is too old to accommodate. These workstations will also provide access to the Internet and online databases. The money that the library system will save is also allowing them to purchase some much-needed software. For example they plan to buy disaster recovery software that will help them to salvage their database in case of an emergency.

Lynn Daugherty, the Director of the Jasper County Public Library, says, "The E-Rate is definitely allowing us to provide quicker, more comprehensive access to information for our taxpayers. Additionally, because the E-Rate program allows vendors to see and bid on services we need, we are obtaining these services at the lowest possible cost."

Name: Lynn Daugherty
Title: Director
Phone: (219) 866-5881
Email: ldaugherty@jasperco.lib.in.us

Davis County Schools
Davis County, Iowa

Funding: $51,000
Services Covered: telecommunications, internal connections, Internet connections, fiber-optic line
Discount Level: 70%

The Davis County School District in rural South Central Iowa has been trying to cope with major budget problems for the past few years. Student enrollment dropped by 100 students in the last two years alone, which has resulted in a loss of $400,000 to the school district. The district has had to reduce staff and has no money for new programs or technology from its general budget.

The E-Rate will allow students at the Davis County Schools to use on-line reference materials that the school could not have otherwise afforded. Teachers in Davis County have found that using computers regularly has improved the writing skills of their middle and high school students, and they are hoping to use technology to give individual attention to students who are in need.

Anne Morgan the Technology Coordinator for the Davis County Schools says that the E-Rate program has provided a tremendous boost to schools that were in a financial bind. According to Morgan, "regardless of a school's finances, they have an obligation to meet the needs of their students and the E-Rate has helped Davis County to meet those needs."

Name: Anne Morgan
Title: Technology Coordinator
Email: amorgan@netins.net

East Greene School District

Grand Junction, Iowa
Funding: $131,946
Services Covered: telecommunications, Internet access, internal connections
Discount Level:75%

The towns that feed into the East Greene School District are farming communities located on one of the busiest railroad lines in the country. They are situated 55 miles Northwest of Des Moines and have a population of 1,500.

Without the E-Rate, the East Greene School District students would not have been able to access the Internet from their classroom. Now they are looking forward to improved student achievement.

Jon Hueser, the Computer/Technology coordinator for the East Greene School District, said, "I can't say enough about the E-Rate program. It has worked wonders for us and we look forward to a second year of funding."

Name: Jon Hueser
Title: Computer/Technology Coordinator
Phone: (515) 738-2411
Email: jon_hueser@east-greene.k12.ia.us

Southern Prairie Education Agency
Ottumwa, Iowa

Funding: $647,000
Services Covered: telecommunications, Internet services, internal connections
Discount: 68%

Unlike many other states, Iowa already has a state-run program in place to bring the benefits of telecommunications to its schools.

Unfortunately, however, the Iowa Communications Network brings the Internet inside of school buildings, but lacks funding to internally wire classrooms. Ottumwa is counting on the E-Rate to make up the difference.

Many of the 70 to 80 year-old buildings in this south eastern Iowa ten-county region offer free or reduced price school lunches to nearly 3 out of 4 students. "The E-Rate is making technology a reality for kids inside of our schools," says Bob Steingreaber, Technology Coordinator for the Southern Prairie District. "Without it, we would have to put our kids on permanent hold."

Name: Bob Steingreaber
Title: Tech Coordinator
Phone: (515) 682 8591
Email: steingreaberb@aea15.k12.ia.us

Atchison Public Schools
Atchison, Kansas

Funding: $87,558
Services Covered: telecommunications, Internet access, internal connections
Discount Level: 77%

Atchison, Kansas, the birthplace of Amelia Earhart, is located on the Missouri River about one hour from Kansas City and Topeka. Big factories on the outskirts of the town employ most Atchison residents. There are 1,700 students in the district.

One year before the E-Rate program became a reality, the staff of the Atchison Public Schools looked into setting up Internet access in the schools. Discouragingly, they found that the school district would never be able to afford it. With the E-Rate, Atchison will be able to install at least one computer with Internet access in every classroom, office and lab within the next year. Donna Noll, Technology Director for the Atchison Public Schools, believes, "The E-Rate is a dream come true for our students. Atchison now offers a wealth of fantastic Internet opportunities."

All of the teachers and students in Atchison are very excited about the changes provided by the E-Rate program. Up until now they have only been able to afford a limited amount of software, but now with access to the Internet, they can find current periodic charts, maps, breaking news, and even museums on-line. Teachers in every discipline now have a powerful new tool at their fingertips.

Name: Donna Noll
Title: Technology Director
Phone: (913) 367-4128
Email: dnoll@journey.com

Wichita Public Schools
Wichita, Kansas

Funding: $956,729
Services Covered: Internet access, telecommunications
Discount Level:69%

The Wichita Public Schools System serves the city of Wichita, a diverse and growing community of 300,000 residents. Wichita is sometimes referred to as the "Air Capital of the World" because it is home to Raytheon, Boeing, Cessna and Learjet. The Wichita Public Schools System consists of 106 buildings, with an enrollment of 48,454 students.

The Wichita Public School System has made technology competency a priority for their students. The schools have adopted a computer competency and research component as part of their requirements for graduation. To meet this requirement, it is essential that students have access to computers with connections to the Internet. The E-Rate is allowing Wichita schools to accelerate the pace at which they add computers to classrooms to meet this requirement.

Eldon Chlumsky, the Technology Coordinator for the Wichita Public Schools, says, "The E-Rate discount has helped us move farther than we ever imagined possible." The Wichita Public Schools are now using computers not only in their business classes, but also in remedial classes and in college preparatory classes to increase their capacity for handling the world of ever-expanding technology.

Name: Eldon Chlumsky
Title: Technology Coordinator
Phone: (316) 833-4914
Email: eldonc@fiest.com
Source: Phone interview

State Library of Louisiana

Funding: $500,000
Services Covered: telecommunications, internal connections
Discount Level: 72%

A few years ago the State Library of Louisiana started "Louisiana Libraries Connect". The goal of this project was to connect all of the libraries in Louisiana to the Internet. There are 332 libraries in the state of Louisiana, which serve a population of 4.3 million people.

In the fall of 1998 there were only 500-600 hundred computers in the public libraries throughout Louisiana. With the help of a $7 million Gates Library Grant, and a $2 million grant from the state, the State Library of Louisiana has been able to add 1,100 computers to the Louisiana libraries, and the E-Rate funding facilitated the necessary telecommunications to connect those computers to the Internet. Now there is one Internet accessible computer for every 2,000 residents of Louisiana. Every library in Louisiana has benefited from the E-Rate program.

Gary Rolstad, the Associate State Librarian for the State Library of Louisiana, says "now the poorest citizen of Louisiana can go into the smallest library in the state and access the Internet. This program has been a great equalizer." The patrons of the Louisiana libraries are using their new Internet access to make economic, educational, and societal changes.

Name: Gary Rolstad
Title: Associate State Librarian
Phone: (504) 342-4931
Email: grolstad@pelican.state.lib.la.us

Good Will Hinckley School
Hinckley, Maine

Funding: $464,000
Services Covered: internal connections, T1 line, fiber optic cable
Discount Level: 90%

The Good Will-Hinckley School is a residential school in rural Maine for at-risk kids grades 5 12 with a variety of educational and behavioral issues and special needs. The vast majority of the students who attend Hinckley, unlike many of Maine's boarding schools, are from Maine.

The E-Rate has enabled the school to bring connectivity to the classroom, which will assist teachers in meeting the different needs of their students. For example, teachers will now be able to utilize distance learning programs in the classroom, expanding the choice of classes that would not otherwise be available.

Gregg Dowty, the Executive Director of the Hinckley School, says, "We know that the E-Rate will provide an important backbone to increase our students' futures in technology. As with all children, they have the same interests and life goals and technology only enhances their possibilities." He explains that the E-Rate will aid in preparing his students with tools to further their breadth of knowledge and experiences through special programs such as video conferencing and distance-learning classes and training that would otherwise be unavailable without the E-Rate.

Dowty believes the E-Rate program has made the school more aware of the promise of technology. According to Dowty, "we never allowed ourselves to dream of the possibilities, but the E-Rate opened the doors of our imagination, and made what we could never even think of a reality."

Name: Gregg Dowty
Title: Executive Director
Phone: (207) 453-7335
Email: dowty@mint.net

Houlton High School
Houlton, Maine

Funding: $70,000
Services Covered: telecommunications, internal connections
Discount Level: 75%

Houlton High School is located in rural Maine, on the Canadian Border. Houlton is an agricultural town where the economy is based on timber harvesting, potato farming, and light manufacturing. There are 650 middle and high school students at Houlton High School. Until this year, the only computers at Houlton were in the technology labs. Now with the help of the E-Rate funds, plans are being made to connect four computers to the Internet in every classroom. The school is in the process of setting up a new server and network to facilitate classroom Internet access. Future plans call for the establishment of a wide area network which will connect all schools in the local area.

Joe Inman, the librarian at Houlton High School, believes the E-Rate has unlimited potential to foster student achievement. "Computers with Internet access in the classroom will help move Houlton towards individual instruction for the students. Teaching and learning will become more of a 'hands-on' experience."

Houlton High School is proof that the E-Rate program works. It is allowing this rural school; through technology to provide its students with an education equal to bigger, wealthier, more urban schools.

Name: Joe Inman
Title: Librarian
Phone: (207) 532-6551
Email: jpinman@ainop.com
Source: Phone Interview

Maine School Administrative District #54
Skowhegan, Maine

Funding: $157,694
Services Covered: telecommunications, internal connections
Discount Level: 71%

Skowhegan is the largest of six towns included in Maine School Administrative District #54. Skowhegan is a rural town with a population of approximately 11,000, whose economy is dependent upon the local paper mill and forestry. The ten schools in the district have a total enrollment of 3,062 students.

The E-Rate has enabled the school district to install high speed Internet access in the high school. This upgraded Internet access will not only quicken the pace at which students can find research information online, but will also allow the school to build a video conference room to enable the school to participate in distance learning courses offered by other schools and universities. The video conferencing facility will also be used for state and regional teacher association meetings, in order to alleviate the long distance commute that teachers have, until now, been required to make for professional development and teacher training.

Skip Sorrentino, the Network Specialist for the Maine School Administrative District #54, believes that the E-Rate has given the students of Skowhegan and outlying areas access to the global community. "The E-Rate has given the students an opportunity to reach out to the rest of the world, and for the world to come and visit Skowhegan."

Name: Skip Sorrentino
Title: Network Specialist
Phone: (207) 474-3339
Email: skip_sorrentino@skowheganms.sad54.k12.me.us
Source: Phone Interview

Enoch Pratt Free Library
Baltimore, Maryland

Funding: $639,035
Services Covered: telecommunications, Internet service
Discount Level: 78%

In January 1882, Enoch Pratt, a New England merchant who built his fortune in Baltimore, offered the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore a central library and four branch libraries. He also established an endowment. His one stipulation was that the library, "shall be for all, rich and poor without distinction of race or color, who, when properly accredited, can take out books if they will handle them carefully and return them." Today his legacy lives on in the modern Enoch Pratt Free Library and the digit al age.

The Enoch Pratt Free Library received a Gates Library Foundation Urban Library Leadership Grant in 1998. With the help of the E-Rate discounts, the library will now increase its wide area network bandwidth in its branches and also its Internet gateway access. The funds from the Gates Grant allowed the library to purchase and install hardware and software to support their technology training centers, and the E-Rate discount provided the funding to increase bandwidth at these sites to accommodate the additional PCs and applications.

In keeping with Pratt's original vision for the library, the training centers are open to everyone including senior citizens, students and staff members. All the courses offered are free of cost and taught by either library staff members or volunteers. The library even offers a Saturday course, "Internet for Families," which is a drop-in session for families to come in and explore sites, learn basic Internet tools and receive Internet browsing information together.

Patricia Wallace, Chief of Information for the Enoch Pratt Free Library, says, "The E-Rate program has allowed us to expand the bandwidth we had and build toward new multimedia bandwidth-hungry applications like distance learning and video conferencing." allace believes, "pairing the Gates Foundation award with the E-Rate funding has been a perfect recipe for success and a win/win situation for all."

"The E-Rate enables the public library to be an equalizer, no matter who you are when you walk through the doors of a public library you are information rich. It allows us to take big steps instead of small steps," says Wallace.

Name: Pat Wallace
Title: Chief of Information
Phone: (410) 396-5358
Email: pw56@umail.umd.edu

Boston Public Library
Boston, Massachusetts

Funding: $1.45 million
Services Covered: internal connections, Internet access, telecommunications
Discount Level: 90% (under appeal)

The Boston Public Library was founded in 1848, and was the first large free municipal library in the United States. The Boston Public Library system includes 25 branch libraries with over 2.2 million patrons visiting the library system each year.

All of the Boston Public Library branches have Internet access, but the E-Rate has enabled them to increase access and provide higher speed. Support from the E-Rate program has helped the Boston Public Library leverage funds from other sources. The library received a $1 million grant from, Margret Rey, the author of the Curious George series, and as a result they now plan to expand the children's technology department. They also received a grant to create a virtual tour of the Boston Public Library, which would not have been possible had the library not been able to increase their Internet speed and access.

Bernard Margolis, the President of the Boston Public Library, believes "that there is no other program in the history of the Republic that will have as much positive impact on libraries as the E-Rate." According to Margolis, it puts libraries in the position to deliver more information services to people, and to improve the quantity of research for them.

Name: Bernard Margolis
Title: President
Phone: (617) 536-5400
Email: bmargolis@bpl.org

Muskegon Public Schools
Muskegon, Michigan

Funding: $1.6 million
Services Covered: telecommunications, internal connections
Discount: 80%

Muskegon is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan right across from Milwaukee. The economy of Muskegon has been trying to recuperate from the loss of the heavy foundry industry over the last twenty years. The Muskegon Public School system has a total enrollment of 6,800 students.

There are 15 school buildings in the Muskegon Public School District, with a total of 485 classrooms. The E-Rate program enabled the school district to wire every classroom in Muskegon for technology. Each classroom now has a mounted TV monitor with video feed and six data connections to the school network. There are direct Internet connections in every classroom.

"The E-Rate is a great federal program for schools," says Theron Wierenga, Director of Technology and Research for the Muskegon Public Schools. "The savings help us in an area that tends to be expensive and often gets put off when other needs take priority."

E-Rate discounts will help to upgrade the district's integrated network.

"Technology is an educational tool. By improving the tools we use to teach students, we'll improve student achievement," says Wierenga.

Name: Theron Wierenga
Title: Director of Technology and Research
Phone: (616) 720-2057
Email: twiereng@muskegon.k12.mi.us

Woodland Library Cooperative
Albion, Michigan

Funding: $44,000
Services Covered: Internet access, telecommunication
Discount Level: 55%

The Woodland Library Cooperative includes 37 libraries in rural Michigan. The libraries in the Woodland Library Cooperative serve 523,000 patrons in eleven counties. The Library Cooperative serves a series of Midwest farming communities.

The E-Rate is enabling the libraries in the Woodland Library cooperative to connect to the Internet by providing affordable access. Prior to this year, three libraries in the cooperative had no local dial-up access. The E-Rate is helping to pay for an 800 number that makes dial-up access possible. The E-Rate is also helping to promote Woodland Library Cooperative's Inter-Library Loan program. This program provides patrons the opportunity to choose books from other member libraries, allowing a larger selection, but it is dependent on multiple long distance calls and has been limited because of high telephone costs. The E-Rate program will help the Woodland Library Cooperative to expand the online program.

James Seidl, the Director of the Woodland Library cooperative, finds that library patrons are using the Internet for a variety of reasons. One woman uses the Internet to find out about a rare disease she suffers from, and joined a chat group of people with the same disease. Senior citizens are coming into the library and getting on-line to find classmates and war-buddies they have lost touch with. Farmers use the Internet to check the current worth of their crops. Many library patrons are doing their taxes on-line. Seidl says, "the E-Rate is making libraries look forward to new types of communication, and helping them to expand and meet the needs of their patrons."

Name: James Seidl
Title: Director
Phone: (517) 629-9469
Email: jseidl@monroe.lib.mi.us

Mississippi Library Commission

Funding: $1.1 million
Services Covered: telecommunications, internal connections
Discount: 80%

Mississippi has a population of 2.6 million people, with a diverse ethnic and racial make-up. For decades the economy of Mississippi has been dependent on agriculture, but in the last ten years there has been a shift and service and manufacturing have become the top employers in the state.

The Mississippi Library Commission and the State of Mississippi have determined that Internet access in the state's public libraries is a priority. Although most libraries were networked before the E-Rate discount was implemented, the high costs were forcing them to consider disconnecting. The E-Rate discounts will enable all the libraries in Mississippi to remain networked.

In February 1998, the Mississippi libraries received a $2.5 million grant from the Gates Library Foundation for programs, training and technical support. The grant, which stipulated that the computers be accessible to the public, supplied the libraries with computers and software, and will establish three permanent training sites in the state. The discounts approved through the E-Rate program will enable the public libraries in Mississippi to fully implement this grant.

Ruth Pierce, General Consultant of the Mississippi Library Commission, says, "The E-Rate produced one of our big success stories. All but one of our libraries were initially involved in applying for the E-Rate discount. The remaining one was only reachable via telephone. When they found out that they could apply at the 90% discount rate, they jumped at the chance." Now, with the savings from the E-Rate program, that library has four computers hooked up to the Internet and a fax machine. It is now possible to contact the library by telephone, e-mail or fax.

Pierce goes on to explain, "We will be opening four training centers in the state of Mississippi which will train librarians on the Internet and teach basic computer usage. Without the E-Rate discounts, Mississippi libraries would not have been able to implement these programs or utilize funds from the grant."

Name: Ruth Pierce
Title: General Consultant
Phone: (601) 961-4114 or (800) 647-7542
Email: ruthp@mlc.lib.ms.us

Dixon R-1 School District
Dixon, Missouri

Funding: $80,000
Services Covered: Internet access, telecommunications, internal connections
Discount Level:74%

Dixon, is a small rural town in central Missouri. Many of Dixon's 1,585 citizens work at the military fort outside of town. In the last few years, a decline in industry has lead to a decline in student enrollment, which has negatively impacted the school district's finances.

To offset these hardships, this year the Dixon R-1 School District received two grants, a Competitive State Technology Grant for $50,00