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EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY NEWS From the New Hampshire Department of Education |
June 10, 2005 |
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FEDERAL FUNDING UPDATE
The press release included below was released yesterday in Washington. You may view the federal program funding levels approved by the House Subcommittee online at: http://appropriations.house.gov/_files/LHSCMark.pdf.
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========================================================================= EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY LEADERS ENCOURAGED BY PARTIAL RESTORATION OF FEDERAL SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY FUNDING; WILL CONTINUE TO SEEK FULL FUNDING =========================================================================
Washington, D.C., June 9: Education and industry leaders reacted positively to today’s approval by the House Subcommittee on Labor, HHS and Educations Appropriations, led by Chairman Ralph Regula (R-OH), of a $300 million FY06 appropriation for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program. Today’s action by the Subcommittee would, if enacted, represent a $196 million cut to the EETT program on top of a similar sized cut last year. The Bush Administration proposed to eliminate EETT in its FY06 Budget.
In a joint statement, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) stated:
“Today’s action shows that the House Subcommittee on Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations is convinced that the EETT program is integral to ensuring that our nation’s schools meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Clearly, the Subcommittee shares our concerns that eliminating this program would undermine ongoing efforts to close the achievement gap, to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, and to improve accountability through data. Furthermore, the Subcommittee’s action today shows that it recognizes that America’s high technology industry needs graduates with the type of 21st Century skills that EETT builds.
“While the Subcommittee’s approval of $300 million in funding for EETT represents a solid first step in this appropriations process, our work is not yet done. Our organizations and their constituents will continue working to convince all House and Senate members that EETT must be fully funded. Absent full funding, we remain deeply concerned about the ability of many states and districts to continue effective education technology programs and, consequently, to attain NCLB’s goals and meet our economy’s needs.
“This critical, first victory in the campaign to restore EETT funding would have been impossible without the vision of the Subcommittee’s Chairman and the leadership of Representatives Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Ron Kind (D-WI), who co-authored a bipartisan letter, signed by 52 House members, that urged the Subcommittee to restore EETT funding. Our message about EETT’s importance has clearly resonated with the Subcommittee. We look forward to spreading this message in the full House and the Senate.”
Organization Contacts:
Keith Krueger, CoSN (http://www.cosn.org), 202-861-2676, ext. 118 Don Knezek, ISTE (http://www.iste.org), 202-861-7777 Mike Hill, NASBE (http://www.nasbe.org), 703 684-4000 x109 Melinda George, SETDA (http://www.setda.org), 703-533-3770 Mark Schneiderman, SIIA (http://www.siia.net), 202-789-4444
About EETT
Authorized as Title II-D of the NCLB, EETT enables schools to address core teaching and learning needs through technology tools, by: allowing access to courses online otherwise not available to rural and urban students; equipping teachers to take advantage of new and emerging technology tools; providing students with the tools to compete in a highly competitive global employment market; allowing continual assessment of student progress through computer-based testing; and disaggregating and reporting of student adequate yearly progress (AYP) data.
States distribute EETT funds to districts with 50% allocated by poverty-weighted formula and 50% by competition. EETT gives schools broad discretion to spend their money on a wide range of technology acquisition, enrichment and integration purposes with at least 25% required for professional development.
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Regards, Cathy Higgins Visit us on NH Educators Online at http://nheon.org/oet |
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ET News is sent from the Office of Educational Technology at the New Hampshire Department of Education. ET News serves as a primary e-mail communication tool about technology matters pertinent to NH educators. Current and previous issues are posted on the web at www.nheon.org/oet/etnews and include information about: · NHDOE technology surveys and technology planning · Federal technology funding and E-rate discounts · Research studies, curriculum information, and professional development related to technology implementation
Requests from service providers to disseminate information about their technology products and services using the electronic newsletter ET News can no longer be accommodated by existing OET staff (see 3/29/04 issue of ET News). Providers are referred to the Reports and Statistics section of the NHDOE website, where several data reports are available in various formats, including School and SAU Information with names, phone numbers, and addresses, Student Dropout Data, and more. Go to the Reports and Statistics area of the NHDOE website at: www.ed.state.nh.us
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