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July 24, 2001
WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES TO RECEIVE $274,434 IN TECHNOLOGY FUNDING
Rockefeller-created Program "E-rate" Announces 1st Round of Funding This Year
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) announced today that schools and libraries are being awarded funding to assist them in obtaining and preserving access to the Internet. In 1996, Senator Rockefeller and Senator Snowe (R-ME) created what has become known as the E-rate program so that schools and libraries across America would have access to the Internet. These awards are the first in a series of funding to be announced this year.
"Since 1998, the E-rate program has made Internet service available to the general public through libraries and schools. The state has benefited tremendously from this funding in the past, and I will continue to ensure the availability and flexibility of this program. E-rate has wired thousands of schools across the country, bringing us closer to achieving the goal of wiring every classroom to the Internet," Rockefeller said.
In the first three years of E-rate funding, West Virginia received $24 million, helping schools and libraries in every county pay for the cost of wiring their buildings and bringing education technology into the classroom. This year’s funding will be awarded in waves, with several more funding cycles expected over the next few months. A breakdown of West Virginia funding levels for each school or library is available on the Universal Service Administrative Company web site: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/funding/y4/data/w1/wvy4w1.asp.
Nationally, the E-rate will provide libraries and public, private and parochial schools with $2.25 billion this year. The E-rate program provides discounts for schools and libraries to pay for Internet access and telecommunications equipment that allows them to bring technology into classrooms. The largest discounts go to schools that need help the most. E-rate helps bridge the digital divide between people in low income and rural areas and those who live in urban areas.
"E-rate funding is important to the future of West Virginia because it provides our students with the latest technology as we continue to attract businesses and high quality, high paying jobs into our state," Rockefeller said.
Largely due to the E-rate, our country has gone from only 3 percent of classrooms being wired in 1994, to more than 77 percent. West Virginia is now above the national average with 91 percent of the classrooms connected to the Internet.
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