Ed-Tech Policy

Funding for ‘E-Rate’ Discounts May Come Up Short, FCC Says

By Mary Ann Zehr — May 20, 1998 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Schools shouldn’t count on getting all the money they asked for this year from the federal “E-rate” program, a Federal Communications Commission official said last week.

“You have to expect that when demand exceeds the available money, not everybody gets everything they want,” said Ruth Milkman, the deputy chief for the FCC’s common carrier bureau, which regulates rates for local phone companies.

The FCC said this month that it expects to collect $1.67 billion from phone companies this year to pay for education-rate discounts on telecommunications services and equipment for schools and libraries.

That amount is $350 million less than the projected demand and $580 million less than the $2.25 billion yearly cap for the program set by the FCC.

Ms. Milkman said that the FCC still plans to collect an average of $2.25 billion each year for E-rate discounts, but that collecting that much for the first year is unrealistic.

“The FCC always said the $2.25 billion was an ongoing cap. Our target figure [for this year] was actually closer to $1.75 billion,” Ms. Milkman said.

The FCC lowered that figure to $1.67 billion based on how much money it projects that phone companies can provide for the program without having to increase long-distance rates, she said.

FCC Chairman William Kennard insisted that the agency “ramp up schools and libraries as fast and efficiently as possible but ... in a way that doesn’t cause rates to increase,’” Ms. Milkman said.

A Promise Is a Promise

Education groups, which are lobbying hard to protect the E-rate program, say the FCC should come up with the $2.25 billion they feel was promised.

“The $2.25 billion cap is the figure schools have been relying on,” said Leslie Harris, a lobbyist for the Consortium for School Networking and the Eugene, Ore.-based International Society for Technology in Education. “People have made their plans, signed contracts. I’m worried that if that [$1.67 billion] figure is adopted, a lot of schools will not receive their funding.”

An aide to Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, a key congressional supporter of the E-rate program, said the senator would accept a figure less than $2.25 billion, as long as demand is met.

The $1.67 billion figure “is not a done deal,” said the aide, who asked not to be identified by name. “We need to see at the end exactly how much demand there is. Then if there’s still a gap, that would be of concern to us.”

The FCC is now seeking public comment on whether it should collect more than $1.67 billion, Ms. Milkman said. But when asked whether schools could expect the amount to grow, she said, “It’s unlikely.”

If demand for the discounts outstripped funding, poorer schools would receive top priority, FCC Chairman Kennard said recently in a statement.

The FCC announced the $1.67 billion figure in a May 8 report that deals mostly with how the agency plans to restructure the administration of the E-rate program.

The restructuring, effective next January, responds to a Feb. 10 General Accounting Office report that concluded that the FCC did not comply with the law when it created the Schools and Libraries Corp., which administers the E-rate program.

The FCC said it will consolidate the SLC and the Rural Health Care Corp.--which administers a universal-service program for rural health-care organizations--under one agency.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the May 20, 1998 edition of Education Week as Funding for ‘E-Rate’ Discounts May Come Up Short, FCC Says

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Ed-Tech Policy From Our Research Center Schools Are Taking Too Long to Craft AI Policy. Why That's a Problem
Nearly 8 of every 10 educators say their districts don’t have clear AI policies, according to an EdWeek Research Center survey.
8 min read
A person sits at a computer and tries to figure out a cloud of AI Policy Confusion
Kathleen Fu for Education Week
Ed-Tech Policy The 'Homework Gap' Is About to Get Worse. What Should Schools Do?
The looming expiration of a federal program has districts worried that many students will not have adequate home internet access.
4 min read
A young boy does homework with a tablet at the kitchen table.
Ilona Titova/iStock
Ed-Tech Policy These State Lawmakers Want All School Districts to Craft AI Policies. Will Others Follow?
The vast majority of districts in the country have not released AI guidance, even though educators say they need it.
2 min read
Woman using a computer chatting with an intelligent artificial intelligence.
iStock/Getty
Ed-Tech Policy National Ed-Tech Plan Outlines How Schools Can Tackle 3 Big Digital Inequities
There's great potential for districts to use technology to meet all students' individual learning needs, federal plan suggests.
3 min read
High angle shot of a man assisting his students at computers
iStock/Getty