Ed-Tech Policy

Atlanta Responds to E-Rate Scrutiny

By Rhea R. Borja — October 08, 2004 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Atlanta school officials, under close scrutiny from federal agencies and Congress for alleged mismanagement of $60 million in E-rate funding, have issued a report defending the district’s use of the federal technology aid.

The 116-page report, released Sept. 24, says that district employees lacked “clear guidance” on the education-rate program’s constantly evolving rules and procedures, and gives a detailed explanation for the alleged violations.

See Also

Return to the main story,

Cash Freeze for E-Rate Hits Schools

The alleged improprieties by the district include: applying for E-rate funding for schools that did not ultimately get E-rate products or services, keeping shoddy records, improperly working with ibm Corp. to win an E-rate contract, and duplicating work and equipment.

“[Atlanta Public Schools] has, by its own admission, struggled with some record-keeping and regulatory requirements. … APS acknowledges these technology and managerial challenges, as well as a lack of optimal oversight of some areas of the program,” the report says.

However, the district disputes the allegation that it received E-rate funding for which it did not qualify.

“APS competed with other E-rate eligible school districts to seek maximum E-rate discounts to which they were legally entitled,” the report says.

Rodney Moore, the general counsel for the Atlanta school system, pointed out that the report did not find fraud. Rather, “it found inefficiencies. And not every system has been scrutinized to the level we’ve been scrutinized.”

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is investigating waste, fraud, and abuse in the $2.25 billion-a-year program of telecommunications aid for schools and libraries, ordered the 51,000-student Atlanta district this past summer to document its participation in the program.

District Under Fire

Atlanta is one of a number of districts and service providers nationwide that have come under fire for alleged misuse of E-rate funds. (“E-Rate Audits Expose Abuses in the Program,” Feb. 12, 2003.)

Seeking to clear the cloud of controversy over the district, school officials there hired an outside accounting firm to audit Atlanta’s use of E-rate funds and sought advice from an Arlington, Va.-based E-rate consulting firm, Funds for Learning. The district also recently started an internal investigation of its E-rate program.

The congressional investigation came after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran news articles earlier this year detailing alleged mismanagement. Examples cited by the newspaper included school officials’ inability to show what they had purchased with E-rate funds, overpayments for goods and services with E-rate money, and millions of dollars’ worth of unused equipment.

The Universal Service Administrative Co., the nonprofit agency that operates the E-rate program for the federal government, may order Atlanta to refund part of the $60 million the district received from 1998 to 2002 if it finds the district misused the money.

In addition, USAC is waiting to decide on a $14 million E-rate request from the school district, pending the outcome of the federal investigation.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar Navigating the Rapid Pace of Education Policy Change: Your Questions, Answered
Join this free webinar to gain an understanding of key education policy developments affecting K-12 schools.

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 Download Four Ways to Supercharge Your School's Cellphone Policy (Downloadable)
The first step is creating a cellphone policy. But it takes these four ingredients to make the policy work.
2 min read
Cell phones sit in a cell phone locker at Boys’ Latin School of Maryland in Baltimore on Oct. 24, 2024.
Cell phones sit in a cell phone locker at Boys’ Latin School of Maryland in Baltimore on Oct. 24, 2024.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Ed-Tech Policy Opinion If You're Going to Ban Cellphones, Do It Right
An educator offers school and district leaders a cooperative, restorative approach to restricting cellphone use in schools.
Nicholas Bradford
5 min read
School cellphone ban policies to restrict cell phones in schools to reduce distractions and help avoid social media addiction resulting in academic problems and mental health issues in a classrooom.
Wildpixel/iStock
Ed-Tech Policy More States Are Moving to Ban Cellphones at School. Should They?
While cellphone bans are popular with many educators, some researchers say there's not much evidence yet that these policies work.
A student uses their cell phone after unlocking the pouch that secures it from use during the school day at Bayside Academy on Aug. 16, 2024, in San Mateo, Calif.
A student uses a cellphone after unlocking the pouch that secures it from use during the school day at Bayside Academy in San Mateo, Calif., on Aug. 16, 2024.
Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Ed-Tech Policy What Schools Look Like Without the Cellphone Distraction
Student behavior has improved and disciplinary referrals have gone down, administrators say.
7 min read
School kids placing putting phones away during class
Dobrila Vignjevic/E+