E-Rate Manager Site Does the Paperwork

The federal E-rate program, which provides funds for K–12 schools and public libraries to purchase telecommunications services and network infrastructures, has doled out more than $17.3 billion since it began more than five years ago. But applying for E-rate funding has always meant big-time paperwork for school districts and library systems. As a result, millions of dollars in congressionally approved funds go unused each year.

To meet this need, the educational consulting firm Funds For Learning (www.fundsforlearning.com) has created the E-rate ManagerSM site (www.eratemanager.com) to help those receiving E-rate discounts manage the required forms. The site is set up so that applicants (and state E-rate coordinators) can establish accounts and easily track the status of how much of a school or library's E-rate funding has been committed to a vendor for products and services, and how much remains to be spent. Best of all, the service is free to schools and libraries; the same vendors who supply Internet services to E-rate recipients pay a sliding-scale fee of $1,000 or more to Funds For Learning to provide the new online management service.