It is reported that most school districts will use the one-time funding to address fundamental needs such as building repairs and salaries. However, it is advisable to use this fund for items that do not require ongoing support.
The Governors Council on Information Technology makes strong recommendations about access and integration of technology and telecommunications into California schools. This Council representing business leaders in California recommends increasing funding for technology and telecommunications, integration of technology into education reforms. The report acknowledges the fact that California ranks near the bottom among states when it comes to the ratio of students to computers. It also acknowledges that staff development along with the availability of software with challenging content is just as critical as access. These recommendations were just released to the State Legislature and are being reviewed in relation to the establishment of new legislation.
AB 575 (Knox) This bill would provide that the legislature establish a program authorizing the CPUC to allocate necessary funds for telecommunications services to schools and libraries. Regional consortia within the 10 county service regions would provide assistance to county offices and school districts to include educational technology planning, staff development, technical assistance, and the application of networked information resources.
Status: Approved by the Senate Education Committee and referred to Appropriations.
AB 1302 (Murray) AB 1302 would continue support for most of the programs currently authorized by SB 1510. The bill does add language to increased involvement of libraries, institutional connectivity, telecommunications network services, and training for teachers and administrators.
Status: Approved by the Senate Education and Utilities and Commerce Committees. Awaiting action by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1519 (Morrow) This bill would create the High School Education Technology Grant Program to be administered by the State Allocation Board. Included in the program are technology implementation grants, staff development grants. School districts with grades 7-12 would be allowed to apply for these grants. The California Public Utilities Commission would be authorized to allocate $40.3 million to develop educational technology infrastructure in public schools.
Status: Approved by the Senate Education and Utilities and Commerce Committees. Awaiting action by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1215 (Villaraigos) This bill would require available educational technology funds to be distributed to LEAs based on an ADA formula.
Status: Approved by the Senate Education Committee and referred to Appropriations.
AJR 28 (Knox) This is an Assembly Joint Resolution that would encourage the U.S. Congress to enact a law to allow each state to share the proceeds of the current Federal Communications Commission radio spectrum auction to provide funding to schools and public libraries for telecommunications and information infrastructure. This resolution passed both houses and has been communicated to the U.S. Congress.
Major cuts for the 1996 Federal education budget passed the House of Representatives and will be addressed by the Senate beginning in September. The cuts have a significant negative impact on educational technology programs by eliminating the U.S. Office of Educational Technology, the recently established Regional Technology Consortia, the Star Schools Distance Learning projects. An even bigger impact is the elimination of some major sources of technology funding such as Goals 2000 Sub grants, Title I cutbacks, and much more.
The California-DC Alliance has developed a platform that includes support for technology. The group consists of representatives from the California Department of Education, Association of California School Administrators, the California Teachers Association, the California School Boards Association and other major education organizations in the state. The Alliance is meeting with members of the California Congressional delegation during August in an effort to get the Senate to restore the programs cut by the House.