Written by Bonnie Bracey Sutton with concepts from an NCTET sharing of information.

Articles and resources as cited.

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THEN

I was in the room when the idea of E-rate was conceived. Someone had shown me the classroom of thefuture, which is not yet in vogue, from the University of Illinois, NCSA and I became depressed my classroom and I told them that for schools of need, nothing would happen without some way of subsidy

( After all I had bought the five computers in.my classroom and gotten two more on grant funding , and I had a laserdisc machine ( ( There went my fancy car I found a new use for fiberglass ).

At the time many people using technology were pioneers.

I was an accidental pioneer, I had some handicapped students who could not write and that began my introduction to technology. So I started out as all teachers did in the old days, with chalkboards, erasers, masking tape, pushpins and poster board and a lot of books. I bought cool things from the teacher store and since I lived in Arlington, I had access to NSF and to the many parents who had children in Arlington Schools. I can remember being reprimanded by my principal and the Washington Post about using “CUSEEME”. Another teacher actually left the school system as the article written was mostly about her and the ridicule was difficult to bear. I had a closet of wonderful things that I was able to beg, buy or borrow that I actually booby trapped so that people would not borrow my ” stuff”. Children used to worry about me when I did not emerge quickly from the closet.

I believe the reason I was able to bear it was because of Frank Withrow and others who introduced me slowly to the new uses of technology. I was very single, with lots of time to do technology and I worked part time in a doctor’s office so I had access to a printer , a copier and a camera . Most of the that time we were still using a mimeograph machine, the one with the purple ink and you had to get permission to have things copied. So, with access to a private black ink copier, and an IBM printer

I could make newspapers, flyers and print my own things.A freedom of sorts.

Science was not importance to many people in the schools in which I taught and so they gladly let me teach it , and the budget planning was handed over to me for the school. These were the days of glued down rock samples and iron filings , and water tables . When I inspected the science closet the same things seem to have been ordered over and over again, so I catalogued them and when people ordered I gladly gave them the existing one and substituted something else that I thought would be of interest , on grade level .I was the science resource person and that was my job.

Teachers simply had to walk into this school closet and sign things out for a time. Science and social studies were hardly taught. This was before NCLB and then through NCLB. Reading, the groups and the workbooks and the language was what most people taught all morning. Math , was the afternoon subject of choice.. with library, Art, PE, and some project work of a seasonal nature . In most schools that I worked in field trips were not much used , so I used the bu s allotment when it was not asked for. I know this is cheating because I lived near Washington, DC, but I felt that the museum with its interactive resources, and explainers could help me out and inspire kids.

There have always been a lot of people willing to help schools so I used 4-H, we worked together, the Smithsonian, the Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art and then finally NASA and the National Geographic. People in those organizations sent things to me, and told others about my work. So, the Fish and Wildlife Service and USGS also contributed to the richness of my school, my class and any other teacher who was willing to take the workshop , attend the meeting , or be a part of the initiatives.

KickStart assumed that broadband would be employed but the political winds blew that away… we thought on the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council that people would see the vision of the Information Superhighway. Getting E-rate passed was hard, but it was achieved. It has made a lot of difference though difficult to apply for. The problem then, is the problem now. Professional development was sometimes the last thing on the mind of the people buying new technology tools. Often the technology teacher did not have the depth of knowledge of curriculum to be able to choose and advise. A further problem is the infrastructure within the schools. That is a big problem for many schools.

NOW

With proper access , to the Internet, and good Broadband speed, most teachers can reach out to find out of school resources, initiatives, ideas and professional development that matters.That does not mean that many don’t need coaching, But panic is setting in as the Common Core is online testing and I guess people in the bubble in DC do not know that there really is a problem with broadband in many communities.

The teacher is the key, but if the technology does not work there will be no transformational use of technology.

The FCC is considering completely reworking the E-Rate. The goal will be to
reach President Obama’s goal of providing 100 Mpbs-1 Gbps of bandwidth to
schools serving 99 percent of students, and to provide wireless access
inside schools. Allocating funding based on enrollment is one proposal, but
the FCC is also considering cutting the top discount level, eliminating
telephone service from the program, expanding eligibility of fiber leases,
etc.To see a brief list of the changes that the FCC is considering:
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0719/DOC-3222
88A1.pdfFor those with more time, here is the full Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM):
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0723/FCC-13-1
00A1.pdf
It’s worth reading the comments of Commissioners Rosenworcel and Pai at the
end of the NPRM, as they lay out very different visions of what the reform
should look like.And the FCC really does read the comments. I think comments from school
districts are especially powerful. It’s pretty easy to file comments
online; here are the FCC’s instructions:
http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs//userManual/ecfsmanual.jsp
FYI, E-Rate comments should be filed in Docket 02-6. Comments are due
September 16, 2013.

Funds for Learning® E-rate Proposal

FCC Releases Notice of Proposed Rule Making

On July 23, 2013, the FCC released the E-rate Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) designed to gather input from stakeholders on a broad range of issues. The FCC is seeking feedback on how to ensure that schools and libraries have access to 21st Century connectivity to support digital learning, on how to maximize the cost-effectiveness of E-rate funds and how to streamline the application process. Comments are due by September 16, 2013.

The E-rate program was founded on an incredibly simple, yet powerful principle: getting students connected. Today the E-rate program faces growing demand for needed broadband services, as well as the infrastructure necessary to support that kind of high speed connectivity. The fund itself is not growing at a pace that can keep up.

Drawing from 16 years of experience in guiding E-rate stakeholders through the funding process, Funds For Learning® has developed the Funds For Learning E-rate 2.0 Proposal in order to address these issues. More information about the FFL E-rate 2.0 Proposal, as well as historical data regarding program demand has been gathered here. If you have questions or ideas you would like to share with us regarding our proposal, please email us at events@fundsforlearning.com

Click the image above to view a video overview of the Funds For Learning E-rate 2.0 Proposal.