Tell Congress to Fund Ed Tech!
October 21, 2005
The fate of federal education technology funding hangs in the balance. Looming budget cuts to pay for hurricane recovery imperil federal education technology funding levels.
Action
Use the ETAN Web-page to contact your U.S. Senators and Representative to urge them to fund the Enhancing Education Through Technology Program (EETT) program at $496 for FY06, www.edtechactionnetwork.org
In the next few weeks Congress and the administration will finalize the funding levels for all education programs. It is imperative that members of congress hear from the education technology community in support of EETT. Members of congress are targeting individual programs for drastic cuts and in addition, are seriously discussing significant across-the-board cuts to all education programs. If the education technology community’s voice is not heard, it will be all too easy for Congress and the administration to target EETT for severe cuts. (See specific message and talking points below.)
Background
Congress and the Administration are in the process of finalizing how much money to devote to EETT for FY 06. The EETT program provides states and school districts with funds to purchase hardware and software, engage in professional development, develop database systems, operate online assessments, and conduct outreach to parents. Nearly 25% of states rely on EETT as their sole source of education technology funding. Last year, the program received an appropriation of $496 million.
At the beginning of this year, the Administration proposed in its FY 06 budget proposal to eliminate EETT entirely. The full House and the Senate Appropriations Committees disagreed with the Administration’s position, proposing to fund EETT at $300 million and $425 million, respectively. Since Congress failed to approve final funding figures for all education programs by the end of the 2005 Fiscal Year (September 30), EETT has been operating under a temporary funding measure, known as a Continuing Resolution, which funds EETT until November 18th at the House’s $300 million funding level.
The disaster wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has thrown the entire FY06 Appropriations process into further tumult. A number of Congressional members are seeking to pay for the federal costs of reconstruction by cutting FY06 funding for all programs from 2% to 5% or eliminating programs entirely. If either option is adopted, EETT could receive funding even less than the House’s $300 million figure, which already represents a substantial cut from FY05 levels.
Message
EETT must be funded at $496 million because:- EETT supports the main pillars of No Child Left Behind – closing the achievement gap and ensuring high quality teachers in every classroom. Recent studies indicate that states and districts direct their EETT dollars towards providing math and reading content to their students. Additionally, all districts use at least 25% of all their EETT funds to train their teachers to use technology and integrate it into the classroom.
- EETT represents the sole source of education technology funding for 12 states and the primary source of education technology funding for another 25, including storm impacted states such as Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
- EETT is proving integral to hurricane recovery efforts. Some hurricane impacted districts used technology purchased through EETT to maintain contact with students, teachers and administrators scattered by the storms, to transfer electronic student records to schools serving evacuated students, and other administrative activities. Students and teachers displaced by the storms will make use of EETT funded technology to keep up to date with K-12 academic and professional development requirements in their own states and to stay connected to colleagues.