THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT will receive more than $14 million in discounts from the Federal Government to purchase Internet-related equipment.

LAUSD received the discounts as part of the Federal Government’s Education Rate, or E-rate, program -- made possible by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which required communications carriers to offer their lowest corresponding rates to elementary and secondary schools and to public libraries.

Currently, 320 of LAUSD’s 680 schools are wired for Internet access. The E-rate discounts will enable the district to expand its wide-area telecommunications network to encompass the entire district, said George Beckwith, director of integration technology for LAUSD. About $4 million will be set aside to be specifically used at LAUSD’s "Cluster 7" schools which is comprised of schools in the Van Nuys community of Los Angeles.

"The E-rate money will allow our schools to be wired for Internet access, Beckwith said. "It will allow us to replace our current Internet connection lines with faster, more efficient lines, which will give students more opportunities such as the ability to produce multi-media projects and use video conferencing."

Beckwith said the indirect benefit of the E-rate award is that it will free-up district money originally earmarked for telecommunications improvements to now be used to buy computers and other peripherals for schools that have little or no hardware.

"Once we have the all of the schools online we can look at the implementation of a prototype multimedia reading project the district is currently developing to improve literacy using technology," Beckwith said.

E-rate allows schools and libraries an additional 20-90 percent discounts on top of the lowest corresponding rate for telecommunications services, Internet access and internal connections.

Currently only about 14 percent of all classrooms are connected to the Internet nationwide, according to the Schools and Libraries Corporation (SLC), an independent not-for-profit corporation established to administer universal service for schools libraries. The E-rate provides vital assistance to schools and libraries and greatly accelerate their access onto the information superhighway.

The SLC received 30,000-plus applications for discounts. These requests for discounts on services received in 1998, when adjusted for the 18-month funding period established by the FCC in June, result in an estimated demand of $2.6 billion. Nearly one-fourth of the discount dollars requested is sought by the neediest schools and libraries, and more than half the discount dollars are sought for those qualifying for the top two discount bands: 90%, and 80-89% discount rates. The average discount request is for $69,200. And, 70% of applications seek less than $25,000 in discounts.

On December 1, 1998, the SLC began accepting E-rate applications for the 1999-2000 funding year. Schools and libraries are invited to begin submitting their requests for services by filing a Form 470 application, Description of Services Requested and Certification Form, for discounts on services that will run from July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000.

For more information about E-rate visit the E-rate Hotline or the California Department of Education Web sites.

For more information about E-rate visit the E-rate Hotline or the California Department of Education Web sites.