A Bureaucratic Hassle, But Worth It

By Mary Ann Zehr

Bethlehem, Pa.

The phone call from the Universal Service Administrative Co. can mean only one thing, Betsy Sakasitz knows: more red tape involving the Bethlehem Area School District's E-rate application. This time, a staff member of the federal agency needs a bid number for a contract the district signed several years ago.

"They might ask us any question under the sun and expect we can go right to the answer," a frustrated Sakasitz says as she searches through an 8-inch-high stack of folders on her lap.

She pulls out a form and hands it to her boss, Scott R. Garrigan, the network coordinator for the 14,000-student district in eastern Pennsylvania. He says it...