A Closer Look

 Although it is very obvious that technology is beneficial and a positive aspect to education, it is difficult for classrooms to obtain the resources to have it. It is hard enough for schools to keep some of their programs, teachers and sometimes entire school days. In 2010, 58,000 teachers were laid off nation wide, even with a $26 billion aid package! HuffingtonPost With all of these cuts going on where will this flow of money come from to fund for technology in the classrooms? I will be focusing on where money can come from to fund for technology as well as future ideas and solutions. This funding can come federally, from the state or private sources.




Federal funding has two main programs in which they give out grant money to schools for technology. These programs include the E-Rate Program and EETT. The E-Rate program gives discounts to schools for technology through the Federal Communications Commission. Discounts through this program range from 20-90% on technology devices. “Discount rates are based on the percentage of students eligible for participation in the National School Lunch program and on whether the school or library is located in a rural area.” This system makes it possible so that schools who are in need of this grant will be given this money over schools that do not need it as much.

The second program is the EETT (Enhancing Education Through Technology) grant, which replaced the previous Technology Literacy Challenge Fund. This program is run on a formula to decide how much funding to give to eligible schools. The main difference in the change of programs is that the EETT program is not all about competition and now awards half the funding money to districts. The new program also focuses on schools using their money for professional development. In 2000, 21% of districts were able to use the EETT funding to enhance their schools with technology integration. This is a great program, but is in the running for being cut soon. If this program is cut then yet another opportunity for funding in schools will be eliminated.
(Above information from A Summary of Findings)







 








Outside of these programs is a large source of funding. Some public sources of funding includes local and state taxes, school and department budgets, business and community partnerships, and grants. More private sources of funding can come from university and private agencies, instructional textbook funds, and parent and business partner donations. These private grants are much harder to come by since they are private and are a more exclusive way to receive funding rather than public grants that are open to the public. Even with all these resources in funding it is nearly not enough to cover the costs of what needs to be done in schools.
(Information from Solutions to Funding Technology)


Overview
A Closer Look
Current Practices
Educational Impact
Solutions
Bibliography