The technology revolution is knocking at your door--are you ready for
it? Discounts for telecommunications services, courtesy of the Telecommunications
Act of 1996, should be available by January 1. But the discounts won't automatically
show up on your utility bills. Before you can take advantage of the new
e-rate, as the discounted rate is called, you need to prepare the way, and
that includes wading through thickets of bureaucracy.
The historic overhaul of the communications law, signed by President
Clinton in February 1996, extends "universal service" to schools
and libraries. Universal service requires telecommunications companies to
provide affordable services to schools and libraries. Once the law was passed,
the Federal Communications Commission worked another year to hash out the
details.
In May, the wait was over. After listening to testimony from education
and library organizations, and telecommunications companies, the commission
released the rules that would guide the discounts. All K-12 schools, public
and private (with some restrictions), will be eligible for the discounts,
with the more disadvantaged schools receiving deeper discounts. The sliding
scale of discounts will be based on the school's number of students in the
federal free and reduced-price lunch program.
As to what will be discounted, the commissioners were deliberately vague,
according to Irene Flannery of the FCC. The intent, she says, was to avoid
locking schools into any one type of technology and communications system.
To be eligible for a discount, a service or hardware must be "an essential
element in the transmission of information within the school or library,"
according to the FCC's ruling. Translated, this means discounts apply to
the installation and continuing costs of all commercially available telecommunications
services, Internet access, and internal connections, including telephones.
The FCC has chosen the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA),
a nonprofit communications agency, to administer the discounts. The discounts
will be parceled out on a first-come, first-served basis, so the faster
you can meet the FCC's requirements, the better off you are.
What are those requirements? First, you must gather your school or district
technology plans, along with proof that you can pay for the portion of the
rates not provided by the Universal Service Fund. Then you must have your
state or another FCC-approved agency certify the information you have gathered.
Then, you send the information in an application to NECA for approval.
Two factors could slow down or stop the process. For one, your state
public utility commission must approve the discounted rates for your state.
Julia Johnson, who chairs the Florida Public Utilities Commission, recommends
you contact your public utility commission and ask these questions: How
will the commission adopt the discounts? When will the discounts be adopted,
and who may participate in the hearings?
Another factor that could put a halt to the discounts, at least temporarily,
is the possibility of lawsuits. At press time, telecommunications giant
Southwestern Bell Company was suing the FCC over the new rules, requesting
a stay on several provisions. A lawsuit by Bell South also appeared possible.
But lawsuits and individual state approval aside, here's a primer on
what you'll generally need to know about accessing the new e-rate:
* When do the discounts start? Schools will begin receiving discounts
for installation and services provided after Jan. 1, 1998. If you've installed
a system before that date, you can get a discount only on costs that occur
after Jan. 1.
* How much money is out there? The Universal Service Fund will
have a $2.25 billion spending cap each year. The first $2 billion will be
awarded to schools that apply early; after that money is gone, the rest
will be given out to the poorest schools first. Any unspent money will carry
over to the next year's balance.
* How much discount will schools get? Your discount rate will
be based on the eligibility of students in your school district for free
or reduced-price lunch, as well as by the type of community your school
serves. Individual schools may apply for the discount, as well as school
districts and groups of school districts.
Schools with higher percentages of students who are eligible for federally
subsidized lunches earn higher discounts, with rural schools earning slightly
higher discounts in many cases than urban schools. According to the FCC
ruling, rural schools receive a higher discount rate because the costs of
installing and maintaining telecommunications systems tends to be higher
in rural areas: "The distance between customers and central offices,
and the lower volumes of traffic served by central offices in rural areas,
combine to create less affordable telecommunications rates."
The smallest discount available is 20 percent; the largest is 90 percent.
(See table below.)
* How does the discount work? Merit, a nonprofit Internet provider
in Michigan, used this example at its web site: Say your charge on the T-1
line that brings the Internet into your classrooms is presently $700 per
month and your school is in a rural district. Approximately 40 percent of
the students in your school are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
That means your discount is 70 percent, so as of Jan. 1, 1998, your monthly
payment is reduced to $210. The remaining $490 would be paid by the Universal
Service Fund Administrator, NECA, out of the fund.
Henry Marockie, West Virginia Department of Education superintendent,
cautions that no money will be distributed to the schools. "There's
no check coming," says Marockie. "It's just a great savings."
Telecommunications companies pay into the fund based on their yearly revenue.
NECA will collect the money then pay it out to schools' service providers.
* What is covered by the discount? The discount applies to installations,
internal connections, maintenance of internal connections, all telecommunications
services, and Internet access, including communications links to Internet
service providers (dial-up or leased line), and e-mail, according to NECA.
In addition, routers, hubs, network file servers, and wireless LANs also
are eligible.
* What isn't covered by the discount? Teacher and employee training
are not covered, and neither are voice mail, fax machines, modems, software,
and computers. Exceptions: Computers that are used as dedicated file servers
are covered by the discount, as is software necessary to operate file servers.
Don't forget that you can use the money you save from the e-rate to pay
for training, hardware, software, and anything else in your technology plan
not covered by the discount.
* What's the first step in taking advantage of the e-rate? At
press time, the FCC planned to have applications available by fall. Before
you can apply for the discounts, you must be certified by your state education
department or another FCC-approved agency. To be certified, you must submit
a technology plan and proof that you can pay for your part of the charges.
This certification and a description of the services you need will be sent
to NECA, which plans to have a web site up by October. To make sure schools
are getting the lowest and most competitive price possible, NECA will post
these descriptions of needed services on the site for service providers
to scan. Companies from all over the country will get a chance to bid. You
will not be required to break existing contracts, but you will have to rebid
the service once your current contract expires.
* What kind of technology plan is needed? Merit suggests you assess
your current computer equipment, experience and training of staff, internal
connections, maintenance contracts, computer software, and electrical system
capacity. Linda Roberts of the U.S. Department of Education says schools
that are unsure about their technology plans or have never developed such
plans should seek the help of schools that do have plans. State education
agencies, universities, and volunteers from industry also can provide guidance,
says Roberts.
Kathleen Vail is an associate editor of Electronic School and The American School
Board Journal. | 
