Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

School eMail, Websites Hit by eRate Changes

New rules would eliminate eRate discounts on eMail, voice mail, and website hosting beginning next year

email
While free options for school eMail and website hosting exist, there are limitations to what these services include.

[Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of articles examining the new eRate rules and how they will affect schools.]

Beginning with the 2015 funding year, eMail, voice mail, and website hosting no longer will be eligible for eRate support. What will this change mean for schools—and what services exist to help schools reduce these costs?

The eRate offers discounts ranging from 20 percent to 90 percent of the cost of telecommunications services, internet access, and internal connectivity to eligible schools and libraries. Now indexed to inflation, the program will supply more than $2.4 billion in discounts this year.…Read More

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Experts: eRate changes certain, but details unknown

Big changes to federal program could mean better access, connectivity

eRate-changesIn the midst of a federal government shutdown, strained school budgets, and calls for education reform are potentially wide-reaching changes to the eRate—the federal $2.25-billion-a-year program that makes it possible for schools and libraries to connect to the internet and give students the opportunity to cultivate the skills they need to compete in a global economy.

Recent efforts to improve schools’ access to reliable high-speed internet have increased, and manifested most notably in President Obama’s ConnectED initiative, which aims to connect 99 percent of U.S. students and schools to high-speed broadband internet in five years. This initiative is critically linked to the eRate program, experts say.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which oversees the eRate, issued a rulemaking process to evaluate the eRate in its entirety, and more than 800 schools and districts, ed-tech advocates, and stakeholders submitted comments to the FCC regarding these proposed changes. Initial comments were due in September, and reply comments are due on Oct. 16, although the actual deadline remains uncertain because the FCC is shuttered during the federal shutdown. Comments will likely be due as soon as the FCC resumes operations.…Read More

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