| It is not all bad The school district where I work has received money from the e-rate program for a number of years now. It helps pay for the internet connection, fiber WAN, internal cabling and the network gear used to connect everything up. Typically you apply for funding for a particular project/year and then based on the free and reduced lunch program eligibility for that building you may be entititled to the money should the F&R percentage be at or over the level set for that particualr funding year. The application process isn't easy and so I wouldn't expect for smaller libraries to receive much of the funding. We typically have consulatants fill out the forms based on what we think we may need a couple of years down the road. Yes, it sometimes takes that long for the whole process to complete. All in all I think it is a highly beneficial program to the District that I am employed at as well as being beneficial to the tax payers of the community. |
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 wilbilt Pronto ResurrectedPremium
join:2004-01-11
Oroville, CA | Being in a similar situation, I would agree with the potential benefits.
It is true the application process is overly complicated and sluggish, and probably discourages many potential applicants.
Due to fraud and abuse by past applicants (Cough...Atlanta City Schools...Cough) the rest of us are now subject to audits and anal probing on every application. Thanks for that.
I wonder how many small libraries are unaware of or intimidated by the E-rate process? If they could partner with a more experienced local organization (school district) or hire a qualified consultant, the benefit to their patrons could be substantial in terms of improved connectivity and expanded services.
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We were taking a vote when the ground came up and hit us. |
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Reviews:
 ·Charter
| reply to USF101
Agreed. I also work in education and am personally responsible for filing for these funds. The application process is a pain but it should be noted that libraries aren't the only ones getting this money.
Also note that school districts must be CIPA compliant in order to receive e-rate funds, meaning that content filtering must be in place. So would you rather have your money going to a library where it is being wasted on Youtube videos and other media or to schools where that meaningless content is (usually) filtered and bandwidth funneled toward actual distance learning? I don't feel bad for them. |
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wilbilt Pronto ResurrectedPremium
join:2004-01-11
Oroville, CA | As the focus of research in K-8 education has shifted from static collections of content (old books in the school library) to dynamic resources on the web, it can only be assumed that this trend is in effect at public libraries as well.
Why should library patrons be limited to the dusty stale books in the stacks when a wealth of current information is available? Bandwidth is key to providing this information, and unfortunately there will be abuse of it.
Streaming media can be of great value, or it can be a waste. Managing its distribution in a public venue is surely frustrating, but better to provide it than not.
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We were taking a vote when the ground came up and hit us. |
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Reviews:
·Hargray Cable
| reply to USF101
quote:
Yes, it sometimes takes that long for the whole process to complete. All in all I think it is a highly beneficial program to the District that I am employed at as well as being beneficial to the tax payers of the community.
In the real business world that's insane. That's one of the problem with schools libraries etc. They actually think a few years to get something minor is good progress. If you don't have the money I know it's not minor but in this business world you get things done in a week or two usually unless it's some huge job. |
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| Your comment indicates you "assume" public schools have the "option" of dictating where funding gets spent. Schools don't have the luxury. They are in the "business" of educating students, and they can't turn away anybody or make anybody stay. Unfortunately, technology, and other great programs and services get cut to balance things out. They get what they get, based on tax base. If you live in a rich area, your fine. The rest are left depending on things like the broken USF. We (my district) are facing budget cuts across the board. There's no money to buy anything expensive, so we write grants, petition for donations etc... We're rural, so we only have one telecom operator. I would say we're limited with our resources. So yeah, WE DON'T live in the business world as you put it. Please don't try to apply your "business" model to something completely different. |
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