Fate of E-rate Program
Message Posted March 30, 2001
I just returned from a few days of E-rate meetings in Washington and wanted to bring you up to date on the E-rate latest.
1) E-rate to Stay at FCC
Education Secretary Rod Paige testified two weeks ago that the administration has decided not to move the E-rate program from the FCC to the Federal Department of Education where it was slated to be consolidated with other federal technology grants. Instead, it will remain with the FCC.
Officials in DC also seemed confident that Year 5 of the program (2002-2003) will remain intact without any significant changes to forms or rules. There may, however, be some action by the FCC to seek comment on significant improvements to the program for Year 6.
2) Year 2 Out of Window Applications
Many of you have been waiting patiently for your Year 2 Out of the Window Applications to be funded (most were submitted March 2000). The SLD is nearly completed processing these applications and funding commitment letters are slated to begin flowing in mid April. I will e-mail everyone with the specifics nearer that time.
3) Year 4 Funding Letters
Year 4 applications (that were due by January 18, 2001) are being data-entered and reviewed in mass quantities by the SLD's Program Integrity Assurance Review Staff. Because almost all of the funding commitment letters will be for priority one services this year, letters are expected to arrive sooner than in other years -- perhaps by the end of April. However, because of the new filtering law, the Form 486 likely will have to be revised to reflect a new certification, and therefore will not be available by the time funding letters are received.
4) Filtering Requirements
As you know, last fall Congress passed the Children's' Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The FCC is currently in the process is designing rules to implement the new law and they are slated for release on or before April 20, 2001. As additional details are known, I'll pass them along.
5) Technology Plans
Please don't forget that technology plans expiring on or before June 30, 2001 or applicants with no technology plans are required to have their new plans approved before start of E-rate services (July 1). The Pennsylvania deadline is April 30 using www.etechplanner.org to submit plans.
The SLD also has just informed us that schools and libraries are actually required to have completed technology plans before they file the Form 470, and that it just must be approved before services begin. Therefore, schools and libraries having technology plans due from July 1, 2001 - June 20, 2002 should consider beginning their plans this summer in order to have them completed by the October, November timeframe (when most applicants submit their 470's). The April 30, 2002 deadline will not change, however we expect that most schools and libraries will want to submit their plans prior to that date since they will have been completed by the 470 submission. We'll be sending more details about this revised timeline in a month or so.
-- Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
Executive Policy Specialist
Pennsylvania Department of Education
333 Market Street, 10th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126
(717) 705-4486
(717) 787-7222 - fax
jtritt@state.pa.us
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