E-rate and You

E-rate and Families

E-Rate and Communities

E-Rate and Education

E-Rate for Libraries

More Success Stories

E-Rate for Families

The E-Rate is increasing involvement in and opportunities for learning for all Americans.

Teachers in the rural Kingsburg Elementary School District in California regularly update websites with information about class assignments and activities so parents can monitor their children's learning.

The E-Rate is fostering greater parental involvement in children's learning.

The Stony Brook School, a private boarding school on Long Island, New York, has found that the e-mail system has dramatically enhanced communications between teachers and parents, some of whom are hundreds or thousands of miles away.

E-Rate and Communities

As children become technology literate, parents are clamoring to catch up. The E-Rate spurs demand for and deployment of the Internet in communities across America.

In the small rural town of Bakersfield, Missouri, the Bakersfield R-4 School District was the first to get broadband connectivity and, because of the high cost of broadband services, the schools are the only institutions in the community able to afford it.

The E-Rate fosters new partnerships in the community.

Schools and libraries are also partnering with local museums, community institutions, and even, in some cases, local government and business. "(The E-Rate) has added a sense that the community was working together and sharing resources. The barriers have started to come down," said the library director in East Troy, Wisconsin.

E-Rate and Education

Public and Private Schools Alike Participate in the E-Rate Program.

At Holly Springs Schools in Holly Springs, Mississippi, a rural, high-poverty school district, second grade students are becoming more intellectually engaged and curious learners, finding out about foreign countries on the Internet, corresponding with pen pals and dramatically improving their vocabulary.

The Stony Brook School, a private boarding school on Long Island, New York, has found that the e-mail system has dramatically enhanced communications between teachers and parents, some of whom are hundreds or thousands of miles away.

The E-Rate leverages new investments in technology in schools and libraries.

In the suburban community of Southfield, Michigan, the school district has used its savings from E-Rate discounts to purchase additional software and computers, and to conduct training sessions for teachers and staff. At the same time, the overall technology budget in the school has increased as the benefits of technology have become more apparent to school boards and administrators.

High school students in Glasgow, Kentucky, learn web design, and create web pages for the local chamber of commerce and businesses. The financial proceeds are used as a fundraiser for the school.

E-Rate for Libraries

School and Public Libraries Benefit from the E-Rate Program

According to the director of the Barrington Public Library in New Hampshire, "the library is now an area where people come to e-mail friends and family, do business transactions over the Net and where students do research for classes. People who do not have computers use ours and learn to use them through courses we offer, and many older people have utilized the staff as teachers to learn more about the new technologies. One older gentleman used our computers to contact old World War II buddies he hadn't spoken to in years!"

The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in New York, leveraged almost $700,000 in E-Rate discounts to acquire $950,000 in private grants from several sources, $300,000 in combined state and federal grants, and $4.1 million in local funding to update the technology in the local libraries. All 52 libraries in the county are now able to offer fast, reliable Internet access on modern computers, and the bookmobile is able to offer high-speed wireless access to patrons throughout the county.