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E-Rate Program Receives
Full Funding for Year Three

The Federal Communications Commission announced April 13 that the e-rate program of telecommunications subsidies for libraries and schools will be funded this year at $2.25 billion, the full amount allowed under the commission’s rules.

FCC Chair William Kennard said that the program received more than 36,000 applications requesting $4.7 billion in aid this year. Although he warned that the agency will not be able to fulfill all those requests, Kennard said the program’s third year will see progress toward the goal of connecting every classroom to the Internet.

Vice President Al Gore said the new funds would bring the total number of connected classrooms to 1 million. “By connecting all our children to the Internet, we will put a whole new world of knowledge and information at their fingertips,” he told the Associated Press.

Last year, 82% of the nation’s public schools and more than half of its public libraries received e-rate discounts, with more than 53,000 urban schools and more than 25,000 rural schools getting support.

Posted April 17, 2000.

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