E-Rate
E-Rate - or, more precisely, Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) - provides discounts to assist schools, school systems, and libraries in the United States to obtain affordable telecommunications and Internet access. Since the inception of E-Rate in 1997, the Georgia DOE (GaDOE) has filed for and received E-Rate discounts to build the Statewide K-12 Network. The GaDOE has received over $500 million in E-Rate funding. Although there is a great deal of money available through E-Rate for telecommunications infrastructure, the process is somewhat complex and timing of certain forms and applications are critical.E-Rate: Technology Planning E-Rate requires approved technology plans as a prerequisite for receiving Internet access or internal connections discounts. There are five specific areas that the technology plan must address in order to be meet E-Rate compliance and receive technology plan approval:
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Establish clear goals
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Have a professional development strategy
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Include an assessment of the telecommunication services, hardware, software, and other services
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Provide for a sufficient budget to acquire and support the non-discounted elements of the plan
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Include an evaluation process
In addition to meeting the above criteria, the timing of completing the technology plan is equally important. The technology plan must be WRITTEN before the Form 470 (competitive bid) is filed. Any services being requested within the Form 470 must be included within the technology plan. The written technology plan must also cover the entire fiscal year for which E-Rate funds are being requested. The plan must be APPROVED by GADOE before E-Rate services have started (Form 486).