US/ND-4: Survey results

Survey results

Gerry Hamor (ghamor@mail.vcnet.com)
Sat, 21 Sep 1996 23:17:58 -0700 

Greetings all,

I find myself in the minority on the narrow/broad issue as I view the
results of the first survey that Laurie posted on Sept 20.  Perhaps I need
to express my thinking and get some feedback from some of you who feel
otherwise. I could be missing something; then again, maybe things just look
different from my perspective. So here goes -

On the issue of broad/narrow service: " Should the range of services covered by
the Universal Service Fund be narrow, so that the magnitude of available
discounts can be large, or should the range of services be broad,
which would result either in smaller discounts or a larger Fund?"


I work at the school level and personally instruct a group of elementary
students in the use of the web and html so their thoughts could be expressed
online. It is very tempting to look at the new law and say; "Let's get
everything we can for our kids. Let's get the telco's to hook us up with the
fattest pipe possible, set up LANS, supply us with computers, maintain our
equipment, and inservice our staffs in the use of telecommunications."  But
there's a price for this level of service, and I'm not sure where that's
going to land. 

When I established our district's first website a year ago, I figured others
were just a step behind. The gap is bigger than that. When I talk to parents
about their student's work online and they tell me that while they have a
home computer (if they have a home computer, and I live in a fairly affluent
area with an enviable pc/household ratio), they haven't worked online
service into their home budget yet - that bothers me a lot. We cannot let
the cost of Universal Service put a burden our parents that keeps their own
access to online service out of reach.

While I would dearly love to see computers in every classroom utilizing
online resources on a daily basis throughout the district, I am not ready to
reallocate our already scant resources to pay for the increased services at
the district level. As a community, we can work in various partnerships to
provide internal wiring, computers, and inservicing. IMO, from the telcos,
we need  connections that meet our changing needs and an e-rate that gives
our students the ability to work online without sacrificing some other
aspect of their schooling. Can that be done without imposing major burdens
on others? Even though I am advocating a narrow position, there is no doubt
in my mind that it will require a much larger universal fund than currently
exists.

Regarding positions taken in WayJane Wong's message:

"All services, whether basic or advanced, would be available to schools and 
libraries as discounted rates and all telecommunications carriers 
including internet service providers should be considered as providers of 
these services."

If we require service from ISPs, they will need access to the Universal
Fund, or at least be able to pass on their costs of providing ports to the
telcos, to whom they pay line charges, since it is the telcos who DO have
access to the Fund.

"A new agency, whether it be at the national level, state or both, needs 
to be formed.  This new agency would embody equitable representation from 
various interests such as education,  libraries,  health care,  the 
community,  local government,  the business sector,  the 
telecommunications industry and the State Commission.  They would be 
empowered to establish accountability measures,  establish a competitive 
bidding process to leverage Universal Services Fund,  qualify 
institutions who would submit their requests,  provide funding incentives 
and monitor various activities."

Wait a minute!  Not more bureaucracy! Just connect us and give our students
access. Save the money needed for the new agency and use the resources to
buy computers, hook up LANS, inservice local folks. Unless, of course, the
new agency was a virtual agency that did not require travel costs, meeting
rooms, lodging, materials...everything could be online! But even if that
were possible, we don't need the regulation. 

Nothing irritates me more than to hear that somebody from the national
school lunch program is flying in to monitor the way we check names off a
list of children receiving lunches, or that a state auditor will be coming
to town to check if our ASB used numbered tickets at a Friday dance so that
all receipts could be properly accounted for. Give me a break!

"A base line would be established for the educational discounts which may
result from the bid process."

I know the bid process fosters competition, one of our focus topics this
week, but I'm real uneasy about this. It's obvious from reading the
submissions by the telcos to the FCC proceedings that their respective
profit margins are highest on their respective agendas. What if all the bids
result in higher than normal rates for schools and libraries? We're not in
position to debate the issue of REAL COST. We ARE in need of access. 

A few months ago a long-distance telco rep called and convinced my wife, who
was really not thnking about the issue, to switch long distance carriers at
our home. A week or so later, our existing carrier sent a check that we
could take to the bank if we switched back. This month, our local telco
announces that they will soon be offering long distance service; our
existing long distance carrier sends a cash offer to stay with them. This is
already a pretty competitive environment! At the school level, I don't want
to mess with this. 

If the local competion results in a hodge-podge of telco service providers
in a given school district, let the percentage of units serviced by the
providers determine which provider (the highest percentage) serves the
schools and libraries and gets reimbursed for its costs from the Fund. Local
ISPs could deduct their costs of providing ports from their own phone line
bills.

I guess it boils down to this: our schools and libraries have a public right
to be connected to the online world and to use those connections-free- in
their efforts to produce the next generation of educated citizens. Let's
keep it as simple as possible.

Gerry Hamor
http://www.vcnet.com/doscaminos/