As financial constrictions squeeze education budgets from coast to coast, the cuts and shake-ups in education-technology programs in California and Texas are emblematic of changes under way throughout the nation.

In their 2003 budget proposals, Calif. Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, outlined plans to scale back or restructure funding for statewide education technology initiatives – programs educators say brought millions of dollars worth of computer equipment and infrastructure upgrades into California and Texas schools in recent years.

In California, as part of a $21 billion plan to decrease state spending, Davis has proposed cutting an additional $1.1 million from the Digital California Project (DCP), a statewide initiative to bring high-speed internet access to public schools via the Internet2 program. DCP already has sustained an $11 million reduction in funding.

The move is part of wholesale budget reductions proposed to offset impending deficits. California, which appropriates nearly half of its yearly discretionary funds for public education, estimates the deficit in 2003 could balloon to $35 billion. California's financial crisis threatens to become the nation's worst.

If Davis' 2003-04 budget eventually is approved by the legislature the $1.1 million reduction to DCP funds would be part of a historic $5.2 billion decrease in statewide education spending over the next year and a half, including possible teacher layoffs and reduced educator training programs.

Originally funded at $32 million, the DCP already has seen its budget slashed to $21 million, said Stephanie Couch, director of communications for the project. The program is intended to foster greater collaboration via the high-speed internet between K-12 schools and institutions of higher education across the state. Efforts to connect all 58 California counties to Internet2 would be compromised if the budget cuts run any deeper, she said.

Currently, the project provides Internet2 access in 55 of the 58 counties across the state. Despite the governor's proposed cuts, Couch said the DCP expects to have 70 percent of schools and students connected to the network by June of this year.

The project has been able to continue in light of significantly reduced state funding thanks to lower than expected networking costs, streamlined purchasing procedures, and additional eRate funding. "As a result, on the networking front, the project is holding its own," Couch said. But, she added, the funding decrease "really limits what we can do on the content aspect of the network."

Throughout the state, the DCP already has become an extremely popular resource among educators, touted for its video-teleconferencing services and online certification programs provided by accredited state universities. "It's opening up new doors of collaboration that we've just never seen before," Couch said. "It really expands access to critical information to bring resources back to local communities."