E-Rate Funding Still Up in the Air

Staff -- School Library Journal, 6/1/1998

How much money will schools and libraries get from the federal e-rate program and when will they get it? Those are two big questions about the long-awaited telecom discounts that remain unanswered.

Schools and libraries completed more than 30,000 applications for the discounts by the April 15 filing "window," which determines the first group to be served. Applications for the year total more than $2 billion in requests, according to estimates by the Federal Communications Commission.

The problem is that the FCC allocated only $625 million for the first half of 1998, even though the cap for the year was set at $2.25 billion. In a May 8 report to Congress, the commission said it could raise $1.67 billion from the telecom industry -- the source of funds for the discount-without raising consumer long -- distance rates. Now Congress must decide whether the commission should make up the difference, and how.

"I think this going to be one of the hardest battles in the coming months," said Lynne Bradley of the American Library Association's Washington, DC, office. For the latest updates, check the Schools and Library Corporation web site at www.slcfund.org.