WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell last week signaled he will not get in the way of President Bush’s plan to overhaul the schools and libraries Internet discount program and that he will not be the crusader for conquering the `Digital Divide’ that his two predecessors were, despite the fact that both initiatives have strong support in Congress and the education community.
“E-rate is a wonderful program. My job is to implement it, to implement it along the guidelines set out in the statute. It’s not my program. It’s not the Federal Communications Commission’s program,” Powell told reporters at his first news conference last week. Powell also said bridging the gap between the information haves and have-notes-the Digital Divide-could threaten innovation. “I don’t embrace the idea that the Digital Divide is the same as the universal service concept,” said Powell.
The education discount, E-rate, for connecting schools and libraries to the Internet was written into the 1996 telecom act by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). The two lawmakers met last Monday with Education Secretary Roderick Paige, who they said was receptive to their concerns about Bush’s plan to convert E-rate into a block grant program that would be overseen by the Department of Education. Rockefeller asked Bush to reconsider his E-rate reform plan when the president met with Democrats at a retreat in Pennsylvania two weekends ago, according to a Rockefeller spokesperson.
“I fear using a block grant approach would give schools less flexibility, not more. Schools currently can apply for assistance based on needs identified locally, while block grants would instead force schools to apply through state education agencies,” said Snowe. Snowe added that block grants could disenfranchise private and parochial schools, which currently participate in E-rate.
Wireless carriers and other telecom service providers would not necessarily be unhappy to see E-rate funded by general appropriations instead of by industry. Knowing however, that E-rate is a politically sensitive issue, wireless carriers have resisted taking sides in the debate. However, they have used the controversy as an opportunity to promote wireless technology in classrooms.
The E-rate program, which connects millions of students to the Internet, costs $2.25 billion a year. About $6 billion has been paid into E-rate to date by wireless carriers and others, who already contribute to a universal service fund that underwrites basic telephone service for low-income and rural citizens. E-rate and universal service costs are passed on to wireless consumers.
The Universal Service Administrative Co., a private corporation, has been criticized for its administration of E-rate.
Powell, a Republican FCC commissioner chosen by Bush to head the agency, went to great pains to stress he would not be as much of an activist as FCC chairman as were the two previous chairmen, Reed Hundt and William Kennard.
“My wife doesn’t care, my neighbors don’t care what I think about which way it [E-rate] does or doesn’t help children. I have children, I care a lot about these things, but it’s not my job,” said Powell.
While Powell’s wife and neighbors may not care what the new FCC chairman thinks about Bush’s E-rate plan, others do.
Fellow FCC Commissioners Gloria Tristani and Susan Ness, both Democrats, voiced support for E-rate last week. Ness, however, said she is open to other solutions.
Also last week, 19 Democratic House members, led by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), told the Bush administration it would be a mistake to kill E-rate. “America cannot leave kids from middle-class working families out of the knowledge-based economy and still hope to retain its economic standing in a fiercely competitive global environment. The E-rate program is a key foundation not only for success in education, but also for our nation’s long-term economic prospects,” stated the lawmakers in a Feb. 5 letter to White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.
“I follow the adage, `If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’ E-rate has been an enormous success. … How tragic it would be to create more controversy around a program that’s just getting its bearings, but getting real results,” said William Kennard, who stepped down as FCC chairman last month.
The International Society for Technology in Education said the Bush E-rate plan is “wrought with confusion … and has the potential to put the state and localities in conflict.”
