LM_NET: Library Media Networking
For Immediate Release
March 2, 2000
CONTACT:
Andy Carvin, Benton Foundation
202-638-5770
andy@benton.org
STUDY FINDS E-RATE IS ACHIEVING ITS GOAL OF
BUILDING INTERNET FRAMEWORK FOR 21ST-CENTURY SCHOOLS
Report by Benton Foundation and EDC/Center for Children and Technology
Examines Impact in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee
Download the report: http://www.benton.org/e-rate/e-rate.4cities.pdf
------------------------------
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The E-Rate works. The first in-depth study of the
federal program designed to help wire schools and libraries to the
Internet shows that the E-Rate discounts on telecommunications services
have had a significant impact on communications infrastructure in four
large, urban school districts: Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Detroit, MI;
and Milwaukee, WI. Entitled "The E-Rate in America: A Tale of Four
Cities," the study was released today by the Benton Foundation's
Communications Policy and Practice Program and the Educational Development
Center's Center for Children and Technology.
Funded by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, the study will be the
subject of a leadership roundtable today at the Benton Foundation, where
featured guests, FCC Chairman William Kennard, and Linda Roberts, director
of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology
Director, will discuss its conclusions.
A key component of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the E-Rate provides
school districts and libraries significant discounts in buying
telecommunications services. Thirty-six thousand applications have been
filed in the E-Rate program's third year, and nearly 60 percent of those
came from the country's neediest schools and libraries. By the end of
2000, it is expected that a total of nearly $6 billion will be invested
with the largest benefits for the poorest communities.
"The E-rate is bringing the opportunities of the Information Age to all of
our children," stated Larry Kirkman, president of the Benton Foundation.
"It is the major public-interest commitment of the 1996 Telecom Act and is
the largest new federal commitment to educational equity in a generation.
In each of the four city school districts, the study found network
infrastructure deployment has accelerated and Internet access has
significantly expanded. "The E-Rate appears to be a refreshing case of
federal dollars well-spent," according to the Benton Foundation's
educational technology specialist, Andy Carvin, who also served as editor
of the report.
A serious challenge reported by local school systems in the study,
however, is the need for resources to upgrade each school's basic
infrastructure - including electrical systems and hardware, areas not
covered under the E-Rate program - in order to handle the demands of an
advanced telecommunications network.
"We found in most instances that 'school building basics' delayed the
deployment of information technology funded by the E-Rate," said Dr.
Margaret Honey, Director of the EDC/Center for Children and Technology.
"While it is an obstacle that districts are fighting to overcome, it ranks
as a major problem that can undermine implementation, particularly in the
poorest schools and those with the most outdated infrastructures."
When examined as a whole, though, the report concludes that the E-Rate is
making a real difference in urban schools: "The E-Rate is playing a major
role in making it possible for these large, urban districts to get robust
networking infrastructures into place," Dr. Honey continued. "Establishing
that infrastructure is a crucial step toward making online resources and
electronic communication part of the daily work of all teachers and
students."
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"The E-Rate in America: A Tale of Four Cities" may be downloaded for free
on the Benton Foundation Web site at
http://www.benton.org/e-rate/e-rate.4cities.pdf
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to access the report. Acrobat
can be downloaded for free at http://www.adobe.com. An HTML version of the
E-Rate report is pending.
Paper copies of the report may be purchased online through Amazon.com.
The Benton Foundation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., seeks to shape
the emerging communications environment and to demonstrate the value of
communications for solving social problems. Through demonstration
projects, media production and publishing, research, conferences, and
grantmaking, Benton takes on the critical questions for democracy in the
information age. For more information, visit the Benton Foundation Web
site at http://www.benton.org, email benton@benton.org or telephone (202)
638-5770.
Based in Chicago, the Joyce Foundation supports efforts to strengthen
public policies to improve the quality of life in the Great Lakes region.
Over the past five years, the Foundation has made $38.6 million in grants
to support efforts to improve the public schools in Chicago, Cleveland,
Detroit and Milwaukee. For information on the Foundation, please consult
its web site at http://www.joycefdn.org.
****************************************************
Andy Carvin Senior Associate
The Benton Foundation
andy@gsn.org http://edweb.gsn.org/andy
andy@benton.org http://www.benton.org
****************************************************
Come Visit The EdWeb Project at http://edweb.gsn.org
****************************************************
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