[LM_NET] Perhaps of interest -- information on technology funding and Erate information

[Paula Yohe <paula_yohe@YAHOO.COM>]

This information was shared with me and I have used some of these services but was 
unaware that some of these services may no longer be available to us –



Paula



The R*TECS (http://rtec.org/) will no longer be funded. The services of SEIR*Tec 
(http://www.seirtec.org/) have been great and  teachers have benefited from the 
technology applications from the High Plains RTEC (http://www.hprtec.org/).



Regional Advisory Centers:  On behalf of the SETDA Federal & State Policy 
Committee, I am writing to strongly encourage each of you to become actively 
involved in the federal Regional Advisory Centers (RACs) process that is currently 
underway.  There are two things that SETDA members should do: (1) visit the RACs 
site (www.rac-ed.org) and actively provide input on technology challenges and 
technical assistance that is needed and (2) share this message with your district 
and local technology administrators and encourage them to do the same.  In this 
process, the same message can not be shared too often – in fact, the more times 
that technology needs are identified, the more chance that they will become a focus 
of the Comprehensive Centers.  This is the time for the technology voice to be 
heard.  An informational brochure about the RACs is available at 
http://wwwed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/rac/rac_bro4.pdf.



As you all know, many of the entities that you have come to count on in the past 
several years were not funded in next year’s federal budget.  This includes the 
RTECs and the Eisenhower Math and Science Consortia.  Congress has instead funded 
new Comprehensive Centers that may or may not include technology components based 
on the educational community’s feedback.  The RACs have been set up to garner 
feedback from across the states and regions about what the challenges are that 
states and regions are facing and what technical assistance is needed form the new 
Comprehensive Centers to address these challenges.  In talking with Jenelle Leonard 
at the U.S. Department of Education, there is a lot of concern that state directors 
have not weighed in on this issue.  If technology does not come up consistently as 
a need, it may not be an emphasis in the new comprehensive centers.  All SETDA 
members are encouraged to get on the Regional Advisory Centers website, 
www.rac-ed.org, and ma!
 ke
 comments.  The RACs need to know what state education technology directors see as 
needs and what types of technical assistance you would like to have through these 
comprehensive centers.



To this end, the Federal & State Policy Committee also recommended that SETDA 
contact the RTECs to obtain a copy of the outcomes of the RTEC meeting held in 
conjunction with the NLI.  The Committee felt that the needs assessment conducted 
in this meeting would provide great talking points to all SETDA members as they 
provide feedback on the RAC Website – either on the discussion boards or during one 
of the online meetings.  The outcomes of the RTEC meeting are attached.  Please 
feel free to review these outcomes and to use as is or elaborate on any or all of 
the needs that are included.  Again, the more that a need is reiterated, the 
greater the possibility that it will be addressed in the Comprehensive Centers RFP 
or eventually by the new Comprehensive Centers.



eRate:  The following is information forwarded from the USAC and NCES concerning 
school and library applications for the E-Rate program.  The first item pertains to 
the current funding schedule and the second item pertains to problems that are 
being encountered with the NCES ID field.



1. Schools and libraries have until 11:59 p.m. ET on February 17 to apply for FY 
2005 E-Rate funding, which runs from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006.  Applicants 
qualify for discounts of 20 percent to 90 percent of the cost of eligible products 
(Internet access, internal connections, and telecommunications services), depending 
on the number of students they serve who are eligible for free or reduced-price 
lunches and whether they are considered urban or rural.

For more information, go to http://www.sl.universalservice.org/.



2. Some schools and libraries are reporting that they are having difficulty in 
completing their E-Rate applications when they left the NCES ID field empty or 
entered the 8-digit NCES private school code. USAC has been unable to duplicate the 
problems, suggesting that they have been corrected.  However, they did forward the 
following information to NCES which NCES has asked us to share with you.

**Public and private schools and libraries applying for E-Rate grants complete an 
electronic application that requests an NCES ID number. If the applicant cannot 
find that number on the NCES public or private school, or library, locators, the 
applicant can leave that item blank, or key in anything. It's an open alpha field.

**The private school NCES ID code consists of 8 digits. The public school NCES ID 
code consists of 12 digits. The application will accept either number of digits, 8 
or 12.

**NCES has nothing to do with the E-Rate program and when applicants call NCES they 
don't have any way of helping them. All that NCES can do is to refer the caller to 
the E-Rate client service bureau described below.  The Schools and Libraries 
Division Client Service Bureau is the best contact source for any user trying to 
complete the FCC Form 471, whether online or on paper. The Client Service Bureau is 
available during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 
P.M. Eastern time. They can be contacted via e-mail using the "Submit a Question" 
link on the SLD section of the USAC web site at www.sl.universalservice.org, via 
fax at 1-888 -276-8736 or via phone at 1-888-203-8100.



Paula Yohe
Director Of Technology/Library Media Center
Dillon School District Two
405 West Washington Street
Dillon, SC 29536
Phone: 843-841-3604 Fax:843-774-1214
paula_yohe@yahoo.com

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