July 2000 Contents
Action on ESEA Stalls
The Senate continues to be at an impasse on the reauthorization of
the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), S.2.
The Senate is scheduled to debate a number of Appropriations bills
prior to
their August recess but the limited number of legislative days and the
upcoming
general election make it unlikely that the Senate will consider ESEA
this year.
The House has also not put the bill on its calendar.
Congress Completes Action on Labor, Health and Education
Appropriations
On June 30, the Senate passed H.R. 4577, FY01 Appropriations for
Labor, Health
and Education programs by a vote of 52–43. The bill appropriates
$40.2
billion for education programs, an overall increase of $4.6 billion
from FY00.
Specifically, the bill appropriates $794.5 million in Title III for
education
technology programs, which is significantly lower than the
House’s FY01
bill ($110 million) and the President’s request of $903 million.
A number of amendments to increase funding for ed tech programs were
offered
on the Senate floor. However, procedural motions that barred
amendments that
did not offset funding prevented all of the amendments from being
considered.
The House also passed H.R. 4577, FY01 Appropriations for Labor,
Health and
Education program by a 217–214 vote. The House funded ed tech
programs
at $905 million, an increase of $139 million from FY00 appropriations.
Congress is expected to go to conference in mid-July to hammer out
the funding
differences between the House and Senate version of the bills. The
education
technology community will have opportunity to again press for maximum
funding
for Title III programs. However, the President has threatened to veto
the bill
because of the low level of funding for education programs overall.
Competing Filtering Amendments Added to Senate Appropriation
Bill
In May, the House Appropriations Committee adopted mandatory
filtering language
sponsored by Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) in the Labor, Health and Human
Services
and Education (Labor HHS) Appropriations bill. Rep. Istook’s
language mandates
filtering software for all computers with Internet access in schools
receiving
Title III funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
In June the Senate added two mandatory filtering amendments to the
Labor HHS
Appropriation bill, S. 4577, one offered by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
and one
by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), calling for schools and libraries to
take conflicting
approaches to preventing minors from accessing inappropriate materials
online.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) joined Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in sponsoring
a third
amendment aimed at the obligations of Internet Service Providers
(ISPs). When
the Senate goes into conference on the bill with the House in
mid-July, the
conference committee will reconcile the House and Senate versions of
the Labor
HHS Appropriation bills and resolve which, if any, of the four
amendments will
remain part of the final bill.
Sen. McCain’s amendment, which passed 95 to 3, requires schools
and libraries
receiving E-Rate funds to use filtering technology that blocks access
by minors
to obscenity, child pornography, and “any other material that the
library
determines to be inappropriate for minors.” Conditioned only on
E-Rate
funds, it is not as broad as Istook’s amendment in the House, but
many
educational, technology, and library groups are opposed to
McCain’s mandatory
use of filters.
Sen. Santorum offered a less restrictive alternative to McCain’s
amendment,
citing the concerns of library and education groups wary of federal
filtering
mandates. Santorum’s amendment, which passed 75 to 24, gives
communities
receiving E-Rate discounts the option of either using filters or of
adopting
Internet use policies, a provision that many education and library
groups find
preferable to McCain’s federal filtering mandate.
Sens. Hatch and Leahy offered a second-degree amendment to
McCain’s amendment,
which would require large ISPs (those with more than 50,000
subscribers) to
provide filtering software to their customers for free or at cost. On
the floor,
Leahy argued that his approach is preferable to McCain’s,
allowing teachers,
parents, and librarians to have the tools they need to make decisions
in their
local communities. This amendment passed by a voice vote.
Committee Reviews Technology Legislation Promoting Science and
Math
On June 13, the House Science Committee conducted a hearing titled
“Science,
Math, Engineering and Technology Education in K–12,” at
which it discussed
H.R.
4272,
The National Science Education Enhancement Act (NSEEA), sponsored by
Rep. Vernon
Ehlers (R-MN). This hearing was the second of three concerning
legislation targeting
science and math education, with the last hearing slated to take place
in mid-July.
Rep. Ehlers stated that students are technologically unprepared for
the 21st
century and proposed the NSEEA as a remedy designed to strengthen
support for
teachers and to create more opportunities for students. The bill would
institute:
- More mentoring support for teachers (including training funded by
the Federal
Work-Study program);
- Summer institutes of continuing education for teachers;
- A Web-based clearinghouse for Science, Math, Engineering, and
Technology
Education (SMET) teachers of materials and programs;
- An increase in SMET-related opportunities for students in
after-school programs.
Witnesses included Dr. Len Simutis of the Eisenhower National
Clearinghouse,
Dr. Diane Bunce of the American Chemical Society, and Dr. Janice
Gruendel of
Connecticut Voices for Children.
Web-based Commission Holds a Hearing
The Congressional Web-based Education Commission (WBEC) held a
hearing on June
26 at NECC to examine the role of the Internet in education. The
Commission
will provide the President and Congress with a full report and
recommendations
in November on how federal policy can facilitate Web-based learning.
The witnesses
included ISTE CEO John Vaille and former ISTE board president Lynn
Schrum. The
full list of participants can be found at www.Webcommission.org.
The roundtable format of the hearing provided witnesses the
opportunity to
discuss a series of questions posed by moderator and ISTE board member
Cheryl
Lemke. The witnesses considered the following questions:
- What policy approaches should be considered by federal, state, or
local
officials to help maximize the education promise of the Internet for
K–12
teaching and learning?
- Are we ready to support new learning methodologies or even new
learning
institutions made possible by the World Wide Web without fully
understanding
what might be lost in the process?
- What specific recommendations should the Commission consider
adopting to
assist (and help prepare) policymakers as they seek to answer these
questions?
The witnesses raised concerns about teacher shortages and the lack of
technology-proficient
teachers entering the workforce. They suggested that multistate
certifications
for teachers be developed to help teachers cut through bureaucracy
when they
move to another state. They also emphasized the need for the federal
government
to become more active in supporting and funding professional
development with
a special emphasis on preservice training.
Additionally, witnesses urged the Commission to advocate for more
funds for
research and evaluation and pressed for a system that highlights best
practices.
There was a general agreement that at least 10% of education
technology funds
should be spent on research. They also stressed the need for the
evaluation
process to be tied to standards. Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE), Chairman,
expressed
his desire to have the Commission support larger increases in research
as well.
The witnesses urged the creation of more high-quality courses and
identified
two areas where education technology is making a difference:
- student control of their own curriculum and
- increased parental involvement.
Some witnesses questioned if traditional school hours and funding
based on
“seat-time” are compatible with the direction and abilities
of the
developing Web-based education sector. The witnesses were adamant that
school
policies should not encumber the development of new technology and its
effective
application.
CEO Forum Releases New Report
The CEO Forum released its new report The Power of Digital
Learning: Integrating
Digital Content at the National Educational Computing Conference.
The report
makes two key recommendations:
- increase investment in digital content and
- perform a digital content inventory.
The report can be found on the CEO Forum on Education and Technology
Web site:
www.ceoforum.org/
Appeals Court Upholds Injunction against COPA
On June 23, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction
preventing
the U.S. government from enforcing the criminal provisions of the
Children’s
Online Protection Act (COPA), ruling in favor of the ACLU’s
challenge to
the criminal provision’s constitutionality. The ACLU requested
the injunction
in late 1998, soon after COPA became law, claiming the criminal
provisions of
COPA constituted an unconstitutional block on speech protected by the
First
Amendment. It is unclear if the federal government will appeal the
ruling or
if they will opt to return to a lower court for a full trial.
COPA’s purpose is to prohibit Web sites from knowingly allowing
the under-aged
access to material that is “harmful to minors.” If COPA were
enforced,
violators would be subject to fines of up to $50,000 per offense,
prison terms
of six months, or both.
COPA Commission Holds Field Hearing
On June 8 and 9, the Commission on Online Child Protection held its
first field
hearing in Washington, DC. As a part of COPA, Congress created a
temporary Commission
of 19 members to study various technological tools and methods for
protecting
minors from “material that is harmful to minors.” The
Commission heard
testimony on:
- Developing common resources that are readily available and easy to
implement
for parents to help protect minors,
- Age verification technology, and
- Creation of top-level domain for adult-oriented material.
On July 20 and 21, the Commission will conduct its second field
hearing in
Richmond, Virginia. The hearing will address filtering technology,
labeling,
and content rating. The Commission is to deliver a final report by
November
30, 2000, to Congress detailing each of the methods it studies. (The
ACLU injunction
did not challenge the creation or mission of the Commission, so the
Commission’s
work continues regardless of the court dispute.) For more information,
visit
www.copacommission.org.
EdLiNC Releases E-Rate Report for Year Two
The Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC) issued its second annual
report on the E-Rate at the American Library Association Conference in Chicago
(www.ala.org/events/ac2000). E-Rate: Keeping the Promise to Connect
Kids and Communities highlights 46 communities and how they benefited from
E-Rate discounts. The E-Rate provides discounts ranging from 20% to 90% to certain
K–12 public and private schools and nonprofit libraries for telecommunications
services, Internet access, and internal connections.
The EdLiNC report shows that the E-Rate discount program is playing a
central
role in bridging the Digital Divide by bringing new technologies and
the Internet
to schools and libraries across the country. In turn, schools and
libraries
are bringing innovative new learning models to children and lifelong
learners,
as well as a host of unexpected synergies to entire communities.
This report analyzes nearly 500 surveys received from public and
private schools,
school districts, libraries and library consortia, mixed consortia and
state
education agencies, on the impact of the program in communities across
America.
The findings include:
- The E-Rate program is increasing involvement in and opportunities
for learning
for all Americans by encouraging teachers to integrate new
technologies into
learning. It is also sparking a remarkable growth in distance
education and
transforming libraries into centers for digital learning and
communications.
- The E-Rate program is fostering greater parental involvement in
children’s
learning as parents learn to use Internet tools (including e-mail
and school
Web sites) to monitor their children’s progress and to
communicate more
regularly with teachers and school administrators. Many schools are
opening
their doors at night to teach technology skills to parents and
others in the
community.
- The E-Rate program is spurring demand for and deployment of the
Internet.
Because of E-Rate funding, many schools and libraries in underserved
areas
are leading the way in their communities in gaining access to the
Internet
and obtaining broadband (high-speed) connections.
- E-Rate discounts are leveraging significant new investments in
technology
in schools and libraries by dramatically expanding the ability of
schools
and libraries to meet and even exceed their technology goals.
Savings realized
from the discounts are being reinvested into other technology needs.
Moreover,
the E-Rate is serving as a catalyst for states and private
foundations to
increase their technology assistance programs to schools and
libraries.
- The E-Rate program is fostering partnerships among diverse
community institutions,
which can use their new connectivity to build creative community
partnerships
with businesses, community colleges, museums, and senior citizen
centers.
For example, local public libraries are filling gaps for schools
without libraries,
and students are training senior citizens in the use of the
Internet.
The Education and Libraries Networks Coalition (EdLiNC), of which
ISTE is an
active member, works to provide our nation’s school children and
communities
with affordable access to the information resources of the 21st
Century through
programs like the E-Rate. The coalition includes national
organizations representing
public schools, private schools, libraries, and rural community
groups.
E-Rate Update
With Year 3 underway, the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal
Service Administrative Company (USAC) has released Wave 12 of Year 3’s
funding commitments. To date, the SLD has sent $1,025,818,503.58 in discounts,
with the largest portion of funding (38%) going to the 80–89% discount
band. Of the 21,954 letters, 75% went to urban schools and libraries with the
remainder going to rural areas. For complete information on funding disbursal
for all years, go to the funding data section of the SLD Web site.
As of June 19, the SLD is no longer accepting the old Form 486 (those dated
July 1999 or earlier). Only the new, simplified Form 486 will be processed.
The new Form 486, as well as the new Form 500, can be downloaded from the application
section of the SLD Web site.
Policy Action Committee Holds First Meeting
This spring, ISTE created a U.S. Policy Action Committee (USPAC)
comprising
ISTE board members, representatives from ISTE Organizational
Affiliates, and
staff who will draft an ISTE policy platform to inform the
organization’s
work in Washington, DC. The goals for the USPAC are to:
- shape a policy platform for ISTE;
- engage members’ constituencies in this policy formation;
- actively develop policy for ISTE to advocate
- develop support statements for legislative policies.
Led by former Board Member Chip Kimball, USPAC held its first meeting
at NECC
to discuss the creation of ISTE’s policy platform. The
committee’s
first task will be to draft policy describing ISTE’s view of the
federal
role in education technology. The subsequent policy statements will
cover other
key issues including:
- ESEA,
- professional development,
- standards, and
- E-Rate.
The committee is planning to provide the document to the next
administration
and new Congress.
High Court Upholds Loans to Parochial Schools
On June 28, in a highly fractured decision, the Supreme Court in
Mitchell
v. Helms, ruled that federal funds may be used to loan religiously
affiliated
schools computers and other multimedia under a law that distributes
such material
to both public and private schools based on enrollment. While the
decision itself
was expected based on recent precedents, the five justices who
supported the
holding could not agree on a rationale. Justices Thomas, Rehnquist,
Scalia,
and Kennedy embraced a sweeping reading of the establishment clause
that would
permit money to go to parochial schools equally in any instance where
there
is a neutral secular purpose in doing so, regardless of whether the
actual effect
resulted in government inculcation of religious doctrine. Justices
O’Connor
and Breyer also upheld the law, but under a far narrower rationale,
holding
that there was no rational constitutional line that could be drawn
between loans
of books and instructional materials already approved by the Court and
loans
of computers. O’Connor rejected the argument that computers and
multimedia
equipment posed a greater risk of being “diverted” to
religious use.
Prepared by Leslie Harris, Jee Hang Lee, and Ghani Raines
On behalf of the International Society for Technology in
Education.
© ISTE, 2000
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