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Head of FCC Proposes Increasing Internet School Fund
Rambo Tribble writes: The commissioners at the FCC are expected to vote, on December 11, on a proposal by Chairman Tom Wheeler to increase the funding for the nation's largest educational technology subsidy program, E-Rate, by 62 percent. The proposal is intended to be paid for by higher fees on phone service. The increased cost is pegged at $1.92 a year, per telephone line. Support for the proposal, or lack thereof, appears to be falling along partisan lines. To quote Wheeler, however, "Almost two-thirds of American schools cannot appropriately connect their students to the 21st century."
How about we revert to 19th century levels of adequacy before we fuck around with internet!?! The ipads and computers and whatnot have their uses, but I see no value in "high speed for every student". But what the hell do I know, I'm just a teacher, not a politician looking to increase my spending power.
I don't know if it's my inner luddite awakening with old age or what, but I can't help but feel that without a specific focus, the notion of "internet schooling" does little for anyone.
fuck the children. I already pay a small fortune in school tax. Let them find the money for it from there.
Not a long time ago, I was just a normal internet user that surfed various news sites like Sladshdot, reddit, or wsj.com. I read a story, perhaps clicked onto some links it contained, and I was mostly happy with my life.
Then, one day, I surfed Slashdot. It was one of those days you will remember for the rest of your life. So, as I surfed Sladshdot, the title of a story got my attention. I read the summary. The topic seemed interesting, so I decided to read further. I read:
Read on below for the rest what Bennett has to say.
Usually I don't read first line of a story which contains the user who has submitted it. On that day, I didn't neither. As I've only read that bottom line, I asked myself: who is this misterious Bennett? I decided to click onto the "Read the comments" link to read more of the story that was, as it seems, written by some Bennett. During reading, I was already impressed by the clear and detailed but still concise structure of the text. As I finished reading, I was convinced it was the best story I've ever read on Sladshdot, or any comparable news site. I asked myself: perhaps this misterious Bennett has contributed more frequently than just once?
To find that out, I went to Sladshdot's search bar and searched for "Bennett". I clicked the second entry, and it began with:
Frequent contributor Bennett Haselton writes
I searched for the "Read on" line, and I was happy when I found it. As it seemed, he was a frequent contributor. However the story was on a topic completely unrelated to the topic of my article. Would the other article still be as insightful as the first? And the other stories in the search result? Would they be also by Bennett? Or someone else? I decided first to be happy to have found such an insightful article, and decided to make a photograph of me, before I read the second story.
I still have that photograph of me and I can see the hope and the satisfaction in my eyes, the hope that the other stories are also written by this brilliant author called Bennett, and the satisfaction of having read such an insightful article. As I've read the first couple of stories by Bennett, I couldn't believe what my eyes saw: all the stories were as insightful or even more insightful than the original story I read. I asked myself whether the spectators in the Globe theatre would have felt the same way when they watched a piece by shakespeare: Witnessing history of writing. I realized Bennett is one of histories great writers.
As I've finished reading all contributions by Bennett Haselton on Sladshdot, I went back to the first Bennett story, and read them a second time. I sat three days straight, missing all social events during that span, only reading Bennett's stories, and reading them again and again. During that time my eyes opened to the fact that my whole life, I've known nothing. Bennett's stories explained every aspect of very complicated things in such detail, that I formed something in my mind. First, I couldn't describe it what it was, but years later I know that, for the first time of my life, I formed something called "opinion" on a topic. Previously, I've only adopted opinions from others, but Bennett's stories enable people to make their opinions for themselfes, to form them. With his stories, Bennett gives you the material to form your own opinion on your own. I know you will say that you can form your opinion on your own, and that you don't need Bennett for that. I
disagree with you. What you call opinion, is in reality just ideology you imitate from others. You don't form your opinions, you don't have them.
Every time Bennett writes a new story on Sladshdot, I take a free day and spend it reading the story
See, there is already a fund which is supposed to pay for everybody getting broadband.
The companies collecting that aren't actually investing in expanding broadband except where it makes them more profit, not where it's needed.
So, a telecom tax proposed by someone who is a well known shill for the telecom industry ... I'm not buying it.
Anything which Wheeler proposes at this point, I'm going to assume is designed to line the pockets of industry, and will do nothing at all for the people they claim this will.
Won't someone think of the children, my ass. This is just a cash grab, plain and simple.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Spending more money is always the solution to every problem.
Hey, a telecom corporate shill is proposing a massive tax backed program to funnel money into telecom companies, much surprise.
X
Because we all know, that this money won't go where it's intended.
It will go in the pockets of the big telcos, as usual.
Just shut up Wheeler, nobody likes you, you corrupted SoB.
Just what schools need, money they can't use because their buildings are falling apart.
Less than 30 megabits
And they want to spend a few million, so the schools can all upgrade their 10-gigabit to a 40-gig, so each student can have 100 megabits of Youtube entertainment and each staff can run their Pandora unhindered?
We, the taxpayers, have already paid hundreds of billions to private companies to give us the astoundingly fast broadband speed of 10 Mbps (on average) in this country, two DECADES after these same companies assured us they would get us 45 Mbps by 2010.
There are already enough fees levied on users, for numerous such issues, that money can be moved from area to another if necessary.
Instead of adding more costs to consumers, how about having the companies do this work for free since they failed so miserably the last time we gave them taxpayer money? Considering the sorry state of affairs of broadband in this country, this is the absolute least these folks could do to justify their existence.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
All funds from government and for government should go through the standard tax system, nothing should bypass in the form of fees.
The problem with bypassing in the form of fees is that a certain portion of every dollar you make is related to government supported infrastructure (including education). It takes a lot more public infrastructure to enable the generation of million dollars worth of wealth than it does to generate $30,000. Thus a person making $30,000 has a much smaller debt to society to pay back. Anytime a fee like this is introduced that person with the smaller debt is subsidizing and paying debt owed by the person with the larger income.
The biggest problem with most public schools is lack of focus on the basics of speaking, writing, math, history and science. None of those even require a computer or internet connectivity. Children can get their office droid skills later, and even IT skills later if they choose that career path.
You are quite right to curse. The per-pupil spending has quadrupled since 1960ies (inflation-adjusted). And that's just national average. The locales with high population density — where you'd expect economies of scale to provide for lower per-pupil costs — actually pay even more. But the quality of education has remained level at best — 70% of 8th-graders can't be said to read proficiently!
No one in their right mind would willingly pay 4 times more for the same bad (and worsening) service, if they had a choice. Thus, it is not surprising, the teachers' unions have made ensuring, you have no other choice, one of their top priorities.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
I’ve never understood why taxes for things have to come from oddly tenuously associated sources for the things they fund. Here in DC the Dulles metro extension is mostly funded by tolls on cars on the Dulles tollway, why do the residents in that area get the privilege of subsidizing travel for DC to Dulles whether they would use the metro or not? Why should phones be taxed to fund internet for schools? Shouldn't school infrastructure funding come from some from a mix of property taxes, state funding, and federal funding?
Sometimes taxes need to go up. If not, then don’t hide the fact that they went up with all the damn smoke and mirrors. Storm sewers here in Maryland need funding, so now we are going to get a rain tax proportional to acreage. Of course it won’t mater if your property is next to a stream and has no impact on the storm sewer system. If infrastructure needs fixing then just raise the damn property taxes -- larger estates will end up paying more anyway.
Letter To Iran
have taxing and lawmaking authority in this country? What am I really voting for?
two-thirds of American schools cannot appropriately connect their students to the 21st century.
I am unaware of any school system in the United States without internet access. This is probably dependent highly open their own reports definition of "appropriate". I live in a relatively poor school district, and all of the schools have internet including wifi, even in the external buildings like the band room and the gym. there is even expensive switching equipment in every single classroom for some reason.
If schools are struggling with internet costs it is probably because the contractors are raping them on equipment and installation, making them buy unnecessary equipment.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
More than 15 years ago South Dakota trained prisoners and installed fiber internet to every school and hospital in the state. Now all of them have high speed internet access available. Too bad other states did not see this coming and make that investment.
At least the FCC is thinking far enough ahead to realize the schools will need more money to pay for the increasingly expensive, non-net neutral internet access they will be receiving shortly.
Silence is a state of mime.
Switching equipment was probably donated.
Since they don't have the money to pay for highly experienced and trained people, you end up with crappy set ups.
Also, how much internet speed?
The future is being built on high bandwidth, and to not have that in schools hinders Americans future generations.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I would advocate for no more Federal taxes of any sort. Money that goes to Washington never comes back whole. In other words, nobody is as good at bureaucracy spending as the Feds. We are lucky to see 10% of any dollar we send them.
Why is this is even needed. Has K-12 education changed that much in the last twenty years? Thinking back on my education, I can't think of anything that would have been improved with high speed internet. The only uses that I'm coming up for at this age group are entertainment uses (i.e. things students shouldn't be doing during school hours) or things like Khan Academy. Are any schools wanting this for online learning? Wouldn't the savings in personnel offset the costs needed for installation? Of course, even if we assume it is needed, isn't this just the FCC admitting that high speed internet is a basic service, which means that it should be regulated as such (i.e. Title II)?
Microsoft: Recommends (and gets) it's own punishment for anti-competitive practices. Punishment is to donate their own software to schools, helping create another generation of locked in customers for themselves.
FCC: Refuses to regulate the internet as a utility, allows corporate interests to subvert the open internet. Recommends spending more money on getting that internet to school children.
E-Rate (and other government education tech funding) is a very convoluted, murky system that seems to only benefit large corporations that want those high-bid contracts to sell a bunch of their technology that never gets maintained or repaired. Good ideas, bad follow-through. I've seen it too many times where hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on the next whiz-bang whatever that will save the school from "falling behind the curve", only to see most of it broken or lying dormant 3 years later due to no funding going to the continuance of that technology. It's the biggest waste of money because those who win the contracts don't generally give a sh*t about the students that will supposedly benefit from it all. In the specific case of E-Rate, its nice because it funds the back-end network/server infrastructure mostly - but then you just see horribly configured Windows AD servers that get touched by a million different "sysadmins" and end up less than useless, clogging up the network and workstations with malware.
You want to make a difference? Volunteer at your local school. Install Linux on some old PCs along with edu packages (skolelinux comes to mind) that you don't use any more and give it to their Kindergarten class. They'll love you to pieces. Especially if you come in once in a while and actually teach them some stuff.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
... to pay for extra internet connection fees after Net Neutrality is just a memory from pre-Corporate Sovereignty times.
John Carlyle: What is going on? Why has production stopped?
Foreman: He's been exposed.
John Carlyle: Don't. Don't breathe on me. Cover your mouth.
Foreman: I'm sorry, sir.
John Carlyle: Does his skin fall off or something? I don't want to replace the bedding. Just get him out.
Foreman: Yes, sir.
John Carlyle: Great. Thank you.
"Press to test."
(click)
"Release to detonate."
Our schools are in a part of the country with decent access to broadband. Both schools where I work have roughly 100 Mbps access via Cable Modem or FIOS for less than $200 per month.
If you don't have decent broadband choices near your schools, E-rate won't make that problem any better. All it will ensure is that your local school district spends thousands of dollars per month on private connections that are mostly unnecessary.
The FCC should focus on getting multiple broadband providers into every market across the country. Once that problem is solved, the E-rate program will not be necessary.
The current e-rate system is not needs-based, they lavish funds on every applicant that can navigate the application process - the answer isn't MORE money, it is in targeting the money to districts with real needs.
Additionally, there needs to be comprehensive auditing of current expenditures... wasn't it e-rate that paid for carrier-class routers for a rural school district a couple years ago?
They are treating education like it is a cow you are trying to medicate - to medicate a cow you need to pour a crazy amount of medicine into the cows mouth, because it is not the first, second, or third stomach that absorbs the medicine, it is the fourth or fifth - the massive dose is needed so that adequate medicine makes it to the proper stomach.
I'd rather see wealthy districts be cut off from erate, expenses get a closer review, and then, if needed, increase funding. I'm not aware of the government refusing requests because of a lack of funding, the real question is why aren't 2/3rds of schools requesting the funds in the first place?
Ken
The problem is NOT funding, The problem is that we have people in charge of the schools that are complete MORONS in regard to technology.
Want to really do some good? design a plan. for the technology backbone in every school and force the schools to adhere to it. Part of the plan is REQUIRED spending on maintenance and replacements. Schools try to use crap forever, I know of TWO schools that still has 10 base T switches in place and Freaking HP routers.
Schools need to be forced to upgrade the gear. All networking gear replaced every 5 years no matter what. Until we get competent people in charge at public schools the technology will continue to be a joke.
Even rich school are running with 10+ year old crap. Honestly VGA for the classroom video to a freaking projector that needed a bulb 2 years ago is shameful.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
All the evidence I have seen on the matter says it seems to be helpful early in primary grades before students before proficient readers. From that point forward, parental involvement and instructor quality are vastly more important than class size.
Taxes, Taxes and more Taxes is all these er people think about. How about we eliminate a bunch of taxes and taxaholics instead.
For millennia young people congregated in schools and were taught important life lessons and beyond, often without blackboards, books, or anything. Out of a sudden we cannot do this anymore unless every child has an overpriced iPad, fast Internet pipes, smartboards, and other school tech that is outdated before the bonds mature? Where is the fund that properly trains teachers on how to use the equipment? Where is the fund for core academic improvements? I gladly pay for any programs that actually teach the children something. I won't pay for buying a bunch of cool stuff that nobody knows how to use and that is yesterday's tech by the time it gets installed. Instead of going on a tech buying binge, how about fixing the horrible inaccurate science and history books and replacing educational crimes like "Everyday Math"!? Courses like "Everyday Math" are the reason why high school grads by now are inept to even keep hockey scores. No tech in the world fixes these academic flaws.