Expanding Digital Opportunities

Feature Story by Cory Smith - 4/5/2001

On Wednesday, April 5, 2001, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and the Leadership Conference Education Fund (LCEF) hosted their inaugural luncheon entitled, Expanding Digital Opportunity: The Debate Over Funding for Educational Technology at the National Education Association. The luncheon focused on the current debate over the future of the E-Rate as well as other education technology programs contained within the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

This luncheon was the premier event of a luncheon series developed to engage Civil Rights leaders in conversations about emerging communications and Internet policy issues. The other policy issues that the luncheon policy series will examine over the next year are: bridging the digital divide, media ownership and diversity, the future of online voting; ensuring accessible media; and Internet governance issues. See agenda (agenda.4.5.01.doc)

The luncheon began with introductory remarks by Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Mr. Henderson illustrated the importance of education technology programs, such as the Education rate, by connecting today's struggle for equity in access to information technologies to traditional civil rights concerns such as equality of educational opportunity.

Jon Bernstein, Vice President for Government Relations and Policy(link to bio http://www.lharris.com/staff/staff.html), from Leslie Harris & Associates (link to organization http://www.lharris.com/flash/home.html) followed with remarks connecting the educational technology agenda with the traditional civil rights agenda. Mr. Bernstein examined: the progress made by ESEA Title III and the E-Rate under the Clinton administration in bridging the digital divide, illustrated the necessity of information literacy in the 21st century, and provided a statistical overview of the digital divide along lines of race, income, and disability.
Bill Taylor Vice Chair of LCCR and President of LCEF, moderated the luncheon panel, which consisted of three panelists, all considered experts on education technology programs. The panelists included: Gina Mahony, Senior Policy Advisor for Representative Calvin M. Dooley, Mary Cross (010405cross.JPG), Associate Director, Department of Legislation, American Federation of Teachers, and Lynne E. Bradley, Director, Office of Government Relations, the American Library Association.

Ms. Mahoney provided an overview of the New Democrats and the status of education technology legislation in the 107th Congress. Mary Cross and Lynne E. Bradley both addressed the Education Rate program and recent efforts to maintain funding for the program. First, they recounted the victory by E-Rate supporters in keeping the E-Rate at the Federal Communications Commission and preventing the Bush administration from
moving the program to the Department of Education where the E-rate would have been consolidated with other education technology programs. President Bush's proposal would have moved the E-Rate funds from the stable and reliable funding source it now enjoys as part of the Universal Service Fund administered by the FCC to the Department of Education where the program would have been subject to the vagaries of the annual
appropriations process. Both panelists emphasized that the E-Rate is a program that provides discounts on connectivity and wiring for both public and private
schools and libraries.

The policy luncheon ended with closing remarks and a tour of the National Education Association's "Tech Making the Grade Exhibit."

Briefing Materials: