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A Disconnect on School Internet Funds – Congressional Report Finds Waste fo more than $10 Billion in 9-Year-Old E-Rate Program

A federal program that has doled out more than $10 billion to help schools and libraries link to the Internet has wasted millions of dollars over its nine-year history, according to a congressional report.

The E-Rate program, managed by the Federal Communications Commission, is poorly run and "extremely vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse," said the report, approved last week by an 11 to 0 vote of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight subcommittee.

Sophomores at Northern Durham (N.C.) High School use laptops on a class project. The school receives funding for computer equipment from the FCC’s E-Rate program.

The program, created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, makes available as much as $2.25 billion a year to help schools and libraries purchase discounted Internet access and telecommunications equipment. Discounts range from 20 to 90 percent.

The effort is funded by the "universal service fee" charged to telephone companies, which usually pass the fee on to consumers. The money is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company, a nonprofit corporation regulated by the FCC.

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/27/AR2005102701934.html?referrer=email

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