Management Information Systems (MIS)
510-836-8288

April 8, 1996

Office of the Secretary             Federal-State Board on Universal Service
Federal Communications Commission   FCC 96-93
Washington, D.C. 20554              CC Docket No. 96-45

Greetings:

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 enacted by Congress in February provides that schools receive discounts from their telecommunications carriers. The implementation of this first rewrite of national telecommunications policy since the Communications Act of 1934 is being directed by a Joint Board composed of members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and members of various State regulatory commissions.

This federal initiative will assist the Oakland Unified School District in its plans to upgrade and modernize its current telecommunications systems. We hope this law will provide significant reductions in rates for telecommunications services including Data Lines, Voice Processing and Internet Access.

Pursuant to applicable procedures interested parties may file comments on or before April 8, 1996. Comments will be limited to 25 pages not including appendices of factual material.

The Oakland Unified School District is pleased to submit its comments and is willing to provide any follow up information the Federal-State Joint Board requires. Questions may be directed to me at 510-836-8290 or the Eugene Stovall, the District's Telecommunications Consultant at 510-836-8197.

Sincerely,
Gary Meissner
Director of MIS

COMMENTS
ON
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
AND ORDER ESTABLISHING JOINT BOARD

Submitted April 8, 1996

I. Introduction

1. District Intent to Comment

In its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order Establishing Joint Board[1] for the purpose of implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("Act"), the FCC ("Commission") requested comments on its proposed policies for the preservation and advancement of universal service. The Commission will base its proposed policies for the preservation and advancement of universal service on seven principles. Two principles are of particular interest to the Oakland Unified School District ("District"):

(1) "There should be specific, predictable and sufficient Federal and State mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service"[2];

(2) "Elementary and secondary schools and classrooms...should have access to advanced telecommunications services as described in subsection (h)"[3]

Therefore, the District will respond to the Commission's request for comments. 2. List of Issues

The District will comment on the following issues raised by the Commission:

A. The identity of universal telecommunications services qualifying for federal universal service support mechanisms for schools;

B. The identity of those advanced telecommunications services required by schools which qualify for universal service support;

C. Functionalities which should be supported through universal service mechanisms;

D. Facilities required to achieve the supported functionalities;

E. Definition of "geographic area" for purposes of Section 254(h)(1)(B);

F. Suggested discount methodologies required to implement school support mechanisms

(1.) Discount methodologies for universal service

(2.) Discount methodologies for advanced service

G. Estimated costs associated with each discount methodology;

H. Educational certification recommendation;

I. Determination of "Bona Fide" request;

J. Provisions Which Discourage School/Community Partnerships

II. Oakland Unified School District: General Description

1. Location

The District is situated on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in the northwest area of Alameda County. The San Francisco Bay Area, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the nation, enjoys a Mediterranean climate. The San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge connects the two major cities.

2. General Population

It has been said that Oakland is the most integrated city anywhere in the nation. According to the 1990 census, Oakland's population is 372,242. There are at least eighty two languages and ethnic groups. Table 1 identifies the largest ethnic groups in the population of Oakland.

Table 1: Population of Oakland, California[4]

  Black Americans           163,526          White Americans          120,855        
 Hispanic Americans         49,267           Asian Americans          45,703         
 Filipino Americans          8,309          Native Americans           2,325         

The District serves 51,706 students and is the sixth largest school district in the State of California. The District operates six comprehensive senior high schools, one continuation high school, two alternative schools, two centers for redirection, sixteen middle/junior high schools, forty-six regularly scheduled K-6 elementary schools, twelve year-round K-6 elementary schools, two K-7 schools, two K-8 schools, nine alternative programs and independent study centers, one Cyesis center and three exceptional children's centers.

Table 2. identifies the ethnic composition of the District's student population.

Table 2. Student Population of Oakland Unified School District[5]

  Black Americans           27,410         Hispanic Americans         10,011         
  Asian Americans            9,533           White Americans           3,467         
 Filipino Americans           549           Native Americans            294          

III. Technology Deployment at Oakland Unified School District

     The Oakland Unified School District developed the
     District wide  Educational Technology Action Plan to 
     articulate a common vision for  technology in the   
     Oakland schools and provide a road map for the     
     effective integration of technology into all phases
     of the instructional  program and administration of
     the District.  The purpose of the Educational     
     Technology Plan is to support and  strengthen the
     District's Educational Plan. The District is    
     committed to  prepare all students for citizenship in
     a changing local and global  community as well as for
     the workplace of tomorrow. Our students must  have  
     access to the technology which will enrich their   
     education and  which will be an integral part of  
     their lives in the future. Educational  technology
     offers a set of tools which enhance student learning
     and  increase the productivity of the staff. The    
     technology tools can be used  to improve, augment and
     support curriculum and delivery of instruction  as  
     well as the overall management of District resources.
     The focus of this  plan is the education of all        
     Oakland students.                                                     

     Technology Action Plan                               
     Oakland Unified School District 66 See: Appendix A: 
     Technology Action Plan, 1995                                          

In January 1991, the District took a major step toward providing school counselors and administrators with the ability to handle the demands of a continually shifting student population. Because so many students were entering and leaving different schools, the student records never seemed to available to the counselors and administrators. The District installed a student information system (SIS) using a distributed processing architecture and deploying technology through the use of over 500 PC workstations to over 86 school sites. The workstations are tied into a Wide Area Network (WAN) utilizing Advanced Digital Network (ADN) lines as well as HiCap T-1 lines.

In July 1992, the District expanded this WAN to accommodate a financial application.

An additional 90 workstations at another 5 sites were added to the network. The workstations were tied together into Ethernet Local Area Networks (LANs). Again, in May, 1995, the District's Human Resources System was converted to the WAN, adding another 120 workstations at multiple locations.

The WAN experienced another major upgrade in 1995 when the decision was made to contract with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for Internet access. Thirty WAN sites were converted to frame relay technology giving schools internet access from school libraries and some classrooms. In addition, a dial-up capability was established via an internet modem pool. On NETDAY, March 9, 1996, the District and volunteers wired 346 of its 2300 classrooms at 53 school sites for eventual internet access.

An important community-based educational consortium was organized in 1994 to take advantage of Internet access. This consortium led by the Chabot Observatory and Science Center, a part of the Oakland Unified School District, received a California Research and Education Network (CalREN) grant to build a Science, Math and Real Technology Network (SMARTnet). SMARTnet made science education accessible to students, educators, citizens and families of Oakland. Of particular focus were groups which have been historically underrepresented in the areas of science, mathematics and technology. SMARTnet established Internet connections between the Chabot Observatory and Science Center and eight community participants such as the Boys and Girls Club of Oakland, the Oakland Chinese Community Council, Spanish Speaking Unity Council and the Indian Nations Council. In addition, SMARTnet has such collaborators as KDOL-TV, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Oakland Public Library, Sandia National Laboratories and the UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering Department. By reaching students in after-school, evening, weekend and other non-traditional school hours, this project enhances science education.

2. Universal Service Applications

The District uses a wide variety of universal service applications from local to intra-lata and inter-lata calling. District applications cover everything from voice communications to fax and modem access. As a matter of fact, there are over 1250 registered Internet users, students, teachers and employees who access the District's 13 line Internet modem pool. There is traffic on the modem pool 24 hours a day, seven days per week. This Internet access modem pool continues to experience increased busy conditions. It is projected that the pool must be doubled in the next fiscal year. Another universal communications services application is the monitoring of boiler rooms, electrical panels as well as fire and intrusion alarms for over 119 sites.

Emergency maintenance and janitorial services rely on a variety of wireless communication services such as pagers, radio and cellular. The District routinely dispatches and communicates with its site workforce using standard terminal devices.

Finally, there are a number of distance learning applications supported by universal services. The most innovative and promising of these applications are in the area of parent/teacher/student communication such as Homework Hotline, student participation in a live call-in program originating from the District's own KDOL-TV studio also called "Homework Hotline" and Take-Home Computer Programs which permit teachers to communicate via E-Mail.

3. Voice Processing Applications

The District utilizes a wide variety of voice processing applications. The most universal of these is individual Voice Mail. As offices must find ways of reducing their expenses, electronic messaging is rapidly replacing face-to-face, meetings, direct telephone communications and written memos. The District relies heavily on voice processing applications to call in substitute teachers for the over hundred different school sites. Voice messaging provides greater community access. Job announcements can be posted and common questions can be answered using voice messaging. There is scant ability for citizens to speak directly with their representatives. However, the District has found that Board members are better able to listen and respond to constituents using Voice Mail. In addition, the District uses Call Routing or Automated Attendant to provide the public with information about Board and Committee meetings, minutes from previous meetings as well as important agenda announcements.

There are a number of school instructional applications which rely upon voice processing technology. Already mentioned is the Homework Hotline. Oakland's ethnically diverse community needs bilingual education. Voice processing really serves this special public by allowing those for whom English is a second language to communicate with the District about important student issues in their native language.

In the event of an emergency or a disaster, parents of the 50,000 students can be notified and disaster recovery teams can be deployed using outcall alert and automatic notification voice processing applications.

IV. Requested Comments from Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Comment A: Universal Services

The District believes that the 1996 Telecommunications Act must provide discounts on all universal service utilized by schools. The universal services supported by the federal universal service support mechanisms for schools should include new products and service enhancements not presently available. Therefore, universal service should be defined in terms of access to the public switched network, switching within the public switched network and features utilized on the public switched network.

1. Universal Services Providing Access to the Public Switched Network

Measured Business Lines
PBX Trunks One Way Out, One Way In, Two Way Combination
Private Lines including Voice Grade, Data Lines, Metering and Other Low Speed
Lines
Zone Unit Message Calling
Intra-Lata Toll Calling
Inter-Lata Toll Calling
WATS
800
Wireless Access Services including Cellular and PCS
Public Telephone Lines and Services
Tie Line Terminations, Mileage Elements & Other Inter-Office Facility Services
Operator Assisted Multiport Conferencing
Interior Wiring & Riser Cabling
Wiring Maintenance
Jacks and Other Premises Terminal Blocks

2. Universal Services Providing Switching Within the Public Switched Network

Centrex Service
Remote Call Forwarding Service
Electronic Tandem Switching /Electronic Tandem Network(ETS/ETN)
Common Control Switching Arrangement (CCSA)
Uniform Call Distribution (UCD)
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)
9-1-1/E9-1-1

3. Universal Services Providing Features Utilized On the Public Switched Network

Custom Calling Features-Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, Speed Calling, Caller ID

Call Referral
Information, Time & Weather
Centrex Station Features, System Features
Custom Local Area Signaling Services (CLASS)
Voice Processing Features

Voice Mail
Automated Attendant
Call Routing
Out Call Alert
Emergency Notification
Automated Messaging
Integrated Voice Response (IVR)
FAX on Demand

Comment B: Advanced Services

As described in a previous section, the District is building a robust digital network utilizing many types of advanced services. Thus the District believes that the federal universal service support mechanisms should apply to the broad array of high speed digital services. In addition, the District believes that Internet access should also be included under this classification of advanced services and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) be included under the category of telecommunications carriers.

1. Advanced Services: High Speed Digital Services

Digital Data Service (DDS)
Advanced Digital Network (ADN)
Public Packet Switching
Frame Relay
Data Link Control Identification (DLCI)
High Capacity Service (HiCap)
Direct Digital Interface (DDI)
Public Switched Digital Service (Switched 56)
Pair Gain Systems DMS-1/ SLC96
Fiber Optic Systems FDDI/ 802.6/SONET
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
D4 Channel Banks
Fractional T-1
Optical Switching
ISDN Basic Rate/Primary Rate

2. Advanced Services: Internet Access Services

Fixed T-1 Service
Fractional T-1 Service
Burstable T-1 Service
Dial-up Service
Network Management and Maintenance
Equipment Support CSU/DSU, Router

Comment C: Functionalities

Universal Service mechanisms should serve to further enhance the following basic purposes of the Oakland Unified School District technology action plan.

1. Integration of Technology into the Educational Curriculum

Technology must be an integral and required part of education - one that is included in the same processes that define what and how we teach to the whole student. The use of technology must be driven by the curriculum and student needs and be wedded to school reform. Technology must be used as a tool to foster curiosity and love of learning. It must help develop the basic skills of critical thinking, problem solving and analyzing. It is through the use of technology that students will gain assistance in interpreting and synthesizing information.

2. Staff Development

Technology training for teachers and staff is an important objective. Training should be designed to emphasize integration of technology into the curriculum. Teachers must learn to use technology as a tool to strengthen their roles as facilitators and the creators of genuine learning environments. Teachers should also learn to use technology to support their assessment and evaluation activities.

3. Preparation for Entry Into Workforce

Technology is an essential element in the preparation of comprehensive K-Adult career preparation. It must be used to prepare students for a wide variety of careers and to strengthen all phases of the school to work transition. Students need to master and apply technological tools which are an integral part of today's workplace.

4. Strengthen Ties Between Schools and Community

Schools must use technology to strengthen their role as community hubs. It is crucial that schools build partnerships with parents, educational institutions, community organizations and city government. Technology is the most effective method of building and maintaining these partnerships. Parents will be more willing to involve themselves in their child's education by having ready access to information on class assignments and school programs. Community activities involving schools bring relevance and a sense of the "real world" to students. Technology can promote collaboration between parents and the community at large.

5. Fiscally Sound Administrative Practices

Schools must use technology to strengthen and improve their administrative practices. As the pressure to offer more services with less resources mounts, prudent administrators look to technology as a way of introducing management efficiencies. Strategic planning, intelligent purchasing decisions and timely maintenance can make a difference between balancing the budget and experiencing the anguish of budget overruns. Technology will support the school administrator who is determine to be fiscally successful.

6. Coordination and Management

Technology can play an important role in the development of a sound educational program. It can support the required changes affecting entire educational programs. Technology is the tool that school administrators will use to meet the great challenges of the information age and the new millennium.

Comment D: Required Facilities

The following are the facilities required to support the above functionalities:

1. Voice Communications Facilities

To assist school districts which have many sites, telecommunications services must be networked. Communications facilities must have the virtual networking capability of providing all end-users with off-net access to the public switched network for incoming as well as outgoing calls. Of equal importance is that these facilities provide on-net capability with full range of options to access a variety of locations within the same network whether or not these locations are within the same central office. Virtual networking should provide the characteristics of a non-blocked switch with a minimum of a P.01 grade of service at every site. Communication facilities for schools should support all types of terminal equipment regardless of manufacturer including such equipment as: Single line telephones, Two line telephones, 1A2 Key Equipment, Electronic Key Equipment, PBX Equipment, Answering Machines, FAX Machines and Modems. Schools need communications facilities which act as an infrastructure in support other applications such as a voice processing. Many school districts require uniform dialing plans which will give users a logical reference for on-net as well as off-net calling. Schools need to be linked together in an efficient of network which provides the widest variety of voice communications applications and services. These linkages can only be accomplished using adequate communications facilities.

2. Information Network Facilities

Schools require robust broadband information network facilities capable of supporting major data processing and data communication environments. With the trend towards distributed processing and site-base management, data communications networks need the robust bandwidth capable of supporting a variety of applications. In today's environment, information network facilities should provide schools with T-1 capability at a minimum. The information network facilities serving schools must be tied into other regional, state and federal networks in order to facilitate and streamline such activities as reporting, budgeting and planning. The information network facility should provide access to the "information superhighway" through connections from Information Service Providers (ISPs).

3. Distance Learning Facilities

Video and interactive technologies are necessary to provide learning in those situations where students are unable to be physically present in the classroom or where the educational material or subject matter expert cannot be brought to the school site. Two way voice-video communications, live programming and recorded lectures eliminate teleconferencing constraints imposed by distances. Technology can expand learning opportunities in many different directions through these distant learning applications .

4. Voice Processing Facilities

Voice Processing facilities are required to provide a robust platform for information exchange, emergency notification, parent/community/school partnerships and administrative communication. Voice processing facilities will provide services such as voice mail, automated attendant, broadcast messaging and emergency notification. As one of the most powerful information tools, voice messaging facilities can introduce to what will be known as the "24 hour A Day" Schoolhouse where all types of information will be made available to students, parents and the community at large. The "24 Hour A Day" Schoolhouse can provide continuous information about job postings, homework, attendance, grades, lunch menus, meeting room scheduling, athletic events, board meetings, contract approvals and special events. The list is endless.

Comment E: Definition of "Geographic Area" for Section 254(h)(1)(B)

1. Geographic Area

For purposes of implementing Section 254(h)(1)(B) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, "geographic area" should be defined as the Local Access Transport Area (LATA).

2. All Telecommunications Carriers Serving A Geographic Area

For purposes of implementing Section 254(h)(1)(B) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, "all telecommunications carriers" should include any carriers with a Point Of Presence in the LATA including local exchange carriers, long distance carriers and internet service providers.

Comment F: Discount Methodologies

1. Discount Methodologies For Universal Service

a. Flat Rate Service

In his remarks concerning the benefit for the schools at the signing, President Clinton stated that the 1996 Telecommunications Act "...enhances the common good". The President recognized that universal service for the schools served the same purpose as universal service for all private citizens. He recognized that the schools are not businesses which operate on a profit motive and treat telephone expenses as a cost of business. For the schools, just as for all private citizens, telecommunications is a public utility which should be available as a right of citizenship. Just as public education serves the common good, universal service serves the common good. Therefore, universal service for schools should be provided at the same rates as universal service for private residential customers. Schools should have flat rate access to the network at the same cost as residential customers. Just as with residential service, all usage charges should be eliminated for local calls.

b. Elimination of All Inter-Office Facility Charges

One of the anomalies of the current telephone delivery structure is the concept of the telephone central office. All local rates and local services are based upon the arbitrarily defined central office locations of the local exchange carrier. These boundaries are nothing more than historic relics of the way communities developed and grew. They are neither standardized nor are they rational. They overlap and cut over school district boundaries. Local exchange carrier (LEC) central office boundaries create excess charges for schools. For large school districts such as Oakland, the excess telephone service charges are bloated by the fact that these large school districts overlap several LEC central offices. To obtain telephone service between these different central offices, many school districts must incur telephone company-imposed inter-office facility charges such mileage and termination charges. These charges are excessive because most LECs have implemented the as Signaling System 7 technology which have virtually eliminated any additional cost to the LEC for providing service across the LEC's central office boundaries. Eliminating all interoffice facility charges including mileage, terminations, and local loop charges for providing services to schools across central office boundaries is a most reasonable method of providing the school with a discount mechanism.

c. Bulk Rate For Voice Processing Services

Currently, the local exchange carrier provides bulk Voice Processing Services at a minimum rate for classrooms. In the Pacific Telesis franchise areas, this bulk voice processing service is known as "Class Link". However, there are severe restrictions on the use of these bulk voice processing services. In addition, many features associated with these regular voice processing services are unavailable with Class Link. Discounts can be affected in the voice processing area by extending the bulk rate tariff for all voice processing services to schools and school district offices.

2. Discount Methodologies For Advanced Service

a. Elimination of All Inter-Office Facility Charges

As with universal services, a great number of advanced services include inter-office facility charges. As bandwidth requirements increase for schools, integrating technology into the classroom, becomes impossible as costs for these facilities escalate. A major factor in cost escalation are the inter-office facility charges which local exchange carriers charge to provide service between central offices. A practical and straightforward discount methodology would be to eliminate all inter-office facility charges including mileage, local loops and termination charges for advanced services.

b. Bulk Rate for Advanced Services

Another reason for the escalating costs for advanced services has to do with the number of school sites being served. The Oakland Unified School District's large numbers of locations has forced the District to decide which school sites will get advanced services immediately and which sites must wait. Often the school sites where parents are active and are able to make financial and in-kind contributions will be the school sites where the advanced technology is deployed. Bulk rate discounts on advanced services can relieve the district from creating the "haves" and the "have nots" among school sites. Bulk rates should apply when a school district requires a number of the same type of advanced digital network services.

c. Permanent Retention of "Give Away" Programs

Recently, local exchange carriers have used "give away" programs as marketing ploys. They give away advanced services to schools for a year with the understanding that after the year the schools will begin to pay full tariffed rate or disconnect the services. In California such "give away" programs were too tempting to resist. As a result, school districts such as Oakland face agonizing choices: whether to discontinue such programs as SMARTnet[7] or to find additional funding. These "give away" programs should be retained permanently. There are two approaches to obtain this objective. All services received by schools under such give away programs could be grandfathered as a permanent service to the district. This approach represents a one time discount and has the disadvantage of penalizing schools which have not received the original give away. Another approach would be to reduce the cost of advanced services based upon the percentage of "give aways" to the schools. For example, if the percentage "give aways" represents 35% of all the advanced digital services for the Oakland Unified School District, then the discount for all advanced services should be 35%.

d. ISP School Service Rate

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must be identified as "telecommunications carriers" in order to provide schools with the discount on their internet access costs promised by President Clinton. The discount should be in terms of access to full T-1 service being provided to schools at the access rates for fractional T-1 128Kbps service. Flexible bandwidth rates are usually priced in the following increments: 64K, 128K, 256K, 384K, 768K and 1.544M. Generally, schools do not require more than 128Kbps for their internet service. However, periodically usage will "burst" above the normal level to the next highest level. ISP charges increase with these periodic bursts. The ISP discount methodology should freeze the cost for ISP usage at 128Kbps and all occasional bursts above 128K up to 1.544M should trigger automatic discounts back to the school.

Comment G: Estimated Costs of Discount Methodologies

1. Estimated Cost of Discount Methodologies For Universal Service

a. Flat Rate Service

Currently, the Oakland Unified School District pays $197,000 annually in local usage charges for a total of 2100 measured business lines. Of this annual amount, $150,000 is for internal calls made between school district sites.

b. Elimination of All Inter-Office Facility Charges

Currently, Oakland Unified School District has inter-office facility charges for Centrex lines in Oakland. The average annual inter-office facility charge is $540 per line. If all District lines in Oakland were served out of the same Centrex in the same central office, the annual cost would be $702,000. However, the local exchange carriers no longer incur expense for inter-office facility connections. With the deployment of Signaling System 7 technology, all the costly overhead necessary to initiate, connect, monitor, bill and disconnect a call is conducted "out-of-band" using a separate data network. Signaling System 7 reduces call processing time form 1.5 seconds to 0.2 seconds. Since processing time is a rate element which the LEC factors into its costs, the use of this technology has reduced the LEC's cost of a call by a factor of 750:1. Since there have been no corresponding rate reductions, LECs have realized "windfall" profits. Thus, it must be concluded that there are no actual costs for using this methodology for discounting rates to schools.

c. Bulk Rate For Voice Processing Services

As has been stated, there is already in existence a "bulk rate" tariff for voice processing services. However this tariff is extremely restrictive in terms of it applications and features as well as who qualifies to order this service. There is no additional cost to providing this service on a bulk basis for all voice processing applications, with all voice processing features to the schools. The local exchange carriers have bloated costs for features such as automated attendant which are being provided by their competitors as a part of a basic voice mail package. Currently, 25 Class Link lines for schools costs $600 annual; regular Voice Mail lines cost the schools almost $6000 annually. Discount rate would be 10%.

2. Estimated Cost of Discount Methodologies For Advanced Service

a. Elimination of All Inter-Office Facility Charges

Currently, the District pays an average of $17,000 annually for inter-office facility charges on its advanced services. This cost is for a total of 63 high speed digital circuits.

b. Bulk Rate for Advanced Services

There is no cost figures available for providing bulk rate services. However, the cost to the local exchange carriers would be minimal. Currently, they can provide up to 1.544 Mbps on a single copper wire. To provide 24 channels at 56Kbps is merely a matter of multiplexing the circuit to a school site. As a matter of fact, local operating carriers do that very thing when they offer fractional T-1 service at no additional cost. With the deployment of fiber optic facilities, bulk delivery of multiple T-1 circuits should be no problem since a single strand of fiber can carry as many as 6 T-1 circuits at the SONET rate of OC-3.

c. Permanent Retention of "Give Away" Programs

The permanent retention of "give away" programs would carry the cost of the "give away". Pacific Telesis gave away $100M in its CalREN program over a three year period. However, all the "give aways" did not go to the schools. The "free" ISDN give away to the schools, represents a LEC policy of giving away a service that few schools or school districts are willing to pay for. Since "free ISDN" is the LECs sales strategy to recoup the costs of a "failed technology", there are no additional costs to the LEC other than those "sunk costs" which should not be considered under this discount methodology.

d. ISP School Service Rate

There are no expenses associated with keeping freezing the charges to schools who burst above 128Kbps. The occasional bursts do not cost the ISPs any additional overhead to provide the service. This discount methodology merely eliminates another rate element ISPs can use to charge customers and do not represent an actual expense.

Comment H: Education Certification

1. State Certification

One method of certifying institutions as elementary and secondary schools as defined in Section 254(h)(5)(A) of the Act would be to accept whatever method the states use to identify K-12 public schools. In California, the State Department of Education certifies elementary and secondary schools and issues a State CDE Code number to each school site. See: Attachment 2.

2. Unlimited School Certification

What is of importance in the certification process is that there be no requirement that universal and advanced services be limited to classrooms. There should be unlimited school certification. Once certification has been accomplished services will be eligible for discounts regardless of the school site or school district application. It is the intention here to allow schools and school districts to use discounted universal and advanced services for a broad array of educational applications. Administrators, managers as well as teachers have an educational mission; they all must draw from the same funding sources. In addition, services which originate in district office facilities such as internet and data processing access service are utilized by student counselors and computer lab teachers. Educational discounts for universal as well advance services must be available to all school and district site personnel based upon the principle that all school activity results in creating a positive learning environment for our children.

Comment I: Determination of "Bona Fide" request

1. School Authorization

In its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order Establishing Joint Board, the Commission requests comments on its intent to "...propose that any person qualified under State or local law to order telecommunications services for schools or libraries be deemed capable of making a `bona fide request' for service"[8]. The District would not want to be prevented from restricting telecommunications carriers to accepting orders only from designated individuals. For example, the District has entered into a long term contract with a long distance carrier and has restricted the ability of site personnel including principals to place an order for an alternative long distance services. Only certain designated District personnel may order service from the local exchange carrier. Therefore, where a specific class of school personnel may be able to make a "bona fide" request legally, schools should be able to designate which specific individuals are authorized to make such requests.

2. Principle of Total School Service

In addition, there is another determination which must be made under "bona fide" request. The Act states: "All telecommunications carriers serving a geographic area shall, upon a bona fide request for any of its services that are within the definition of universal service under subsection (c) (3), provide such services to elementary schools, secondary schools, and libraries for educational purposes at rates less than the amounts charged for similar services to other parties."[9] It is important to the schools that the principle be established that requests for universal and advanced services for any activity undertaken by school administrators, directors, managers and all other school and school district personnel be considered a "bona fide request for educational purposes". The principle of total school service is fundamental to the establishment of those support mechanisms required by the 1996 Telecommunications Act for schools. The MIS Department at Oakland Unified School District uses a variety of advanced services in its network. This one network provides internet access to a variety of school site computer labs, access to student records for high school student counselors, reporting procedures and files for school attendance clerks and access for Food Service personnel to determine a student's eligibility for free or reduced rate meals. Universal services such as office telephones are used by parents to get access to teachers, by school secretaries to arrange field trips, by gym teachers to arrange intercollegiate athletic activities. No arbitrary division can be made between the uses of universal and advanced services and neither can there be an arbitrary division between educational and administrative use. When a Hispanic parent requiring bilingual services calls the district office and speaks to a person in Spanish about the education of that parent's child, that universal service is being used for an educational purpose. It is of the utmost concern that the implementation of rules affecting a "bona fide request for educational purposes" be guided by this principle of total school service.

Comment J: Provisions Which Discourage School/Community Partnerships

The 1996 Telecommunications Act prohibits selling, reselling or otherwise transferring by a school, discounted services in consideration for money or any other thing of value.[10] The Commissions request comments on whether or not this prohibition will discourage partnerships between schools and their communities. Currently, the Oakland Unified School District is involved in a major educational consortium, SMARTnet, and a number community partnerships. As the District begins to experience cost increases from its ISP vendor because of increased community access to the internet, the District must decide whether to share the additional access costs with the community groups in the educational consortium or to cut them off. The District must retain the ability to charge each non-eligible institution its pro rata share of the internet access charges. The Act's prohibition could cause the District to terminate its relationship with the Boys and Girls Club and other such organizations, if it means that the District would have to bear the entire cost of the service. There is be an effective prohibition on "backdoor connections" for ineligible organizations participating in community-based educational consortiums with local schools, if some modification of this prohibition is not put into effect.

V. Conclusion

It is the hope of the Oakland Unified School District that the foregoing comments will assist the Federal-State Joint Board in its rulemaking process. Our comments are intended to demonstrate the District's commitment to providing all the information required to enable the Joint Board to bring the broadest level of support to schools. The 1996 Telecommunications Act can provide public education with the resources to enable millions of our school children to take advantage of the economic, scientific and intellectual benefits of the Information Age. We in Oakland look forward to working in full partnership with the Federal-State Joint Board to bring the full benefits of this landmark legislation to our school children.

Please address any questions you might have regarding these comments to:

Oakland Unified School District
MIS Department
1025-Second Avenue
Oakland, CA 94606
Gary Meissner, Director of MIS 510-836-8290
Eugene Stovall, Telecommunications Consultant 510-836-8197

[1] Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order Establishing Joint Board, FCC 96-93, CC Docket No. 96-45, March 8, 1996

[2] IBID p. 4.

[3] IBID.

[4] Source: Department of Research and Evaluation, Oakland Unified School District, School District Information Summary, 1994-1995 p. 1.

[5] IBID.

[7] See: Section III (1) of this document, Oakland Unified School District's Advanced Communications Network

[8] op.cit., Section IV(4)(B)(85), p.41.

[9] Telecommunications Act of 1996, Section 254(h)(1)(B)

[10] IBID. Section 254(h)(3)