Feds Say E-Rate is Finally Coming

Staff -- School Library Journal, 12/1/1998

After months of delays and uncertainty, the government agency charged with overseeing e-rate discounts said the program was set to begin.

According to the Schools and Library Corporation (SLC), it was ready last month to start telling applicants how much they could expect to receive through the e-rate, the federal discount program that will help schools and libraries afford Internet service. E-rate "funding commitment letters" should be mailed out starting in the middle of this month, the SLC said.

In June, the Federal Communications Commission cut the amount available to the program in its first year, from $2.3 million to $1.3 million. The commission also decided to give funding priority to the neediest districts. About 30,000 schools and libraries have applied for roughly $2.02 billion in e-rate funding this year.