Contact: Brian Washington  (202) 822-7823

February 28, 2007 

E-Rate 10th Anniversary Underscores Progress in Closing Technology Gap

NEA applauds program for giving students access to 21st century learning tools

NEA Executive Director John Wilson testifies that E-Rate has helped close the technology gap between lower income and affluent schools.         Photo by Sandy Schaeffer

“NEA is committed to ensuring every child has great public schools, and the E-Rate program is a key component of that,” said Wilson. “NEA was deeply involved in the conception and passage of E-Rate, and we take great pleasure and pride in its achievements.”

Wilson took part in a briefing today that coincides with the release of a new report, “E-Rate: 10 Years of Connecting Kids and Community” (PDF, 1.1MB, 20 pages).  He said teachers and other educators commend the program for helping students acquire the skills they need to be effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st century.

E-Rate, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, provides deep discounts on telecommunications, Internet access and internal networking to America’s public and private schools and public libraries. Congress approved the program in 1997 as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

“Ten years ago, relatively few classrooms had Internet access, and the disparity in access between schools serving lower income students and those serving their more affluent peers was dramatic. Higher income classrooms were more than twice as likely to have Internet access,” said Wilson. “Now, virtually all schools have Internet access.”

The report credits E-Rate with increasing the overall number of public school classrooms with Internet access from 14 percent in 1996 to 95 percent in 2005. It also finds E-Rate allows 100 percent of public libraries to provide free Internet access to their communities.

“We don't have to look any further than E-rate to see how policymakers, educators and the community can work together to craft policies that improve education,” said Reg Weaver, NEA president. “We all have a shared responsibility to provide students with a quality public education, and we should use this program as a model for other school reform initiatives."

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 3.2  million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.