Gov't may scrap E-rate funding of school, library net services
Haven't gotten a whole lot of cash from the U.S. government's big tax cuts? Well, if a recent congressional plan goes through, you may find yourself the happy recipient of a whopping $10 a year. The proposed plan would scrap E-Rate, a 1996 program — funded by surcharges on phone bills — that helps get schools and libraries online. Sounds a lot better than a lot of those other cryptic taxes tacked onto phone bills, right? Problem is, the program has accumulated $14.6 billion, but has only forked over $9.2 billion. Members of congress seeking to kill the program claim it's been mismanaged, and that in an age of widespread and affordable access, it's also become irrelevant. However, the American Library Association claims the program has revolutionized libraries, allowing them to provide public Internet access and other services that would disappear if the program were cut. Given the current climate in Washington, we expect E-rate to disappear at some point over the next couple of years. So, if your kids ask where their school Internet terminals went, maybe you can split the $10 with them; at least it'll get them a few minutes of access at the local Kinko's.
