RFP Due Dates

The dates for the latest RFP's are approaching! The Laptop/Online Writing Assessment pilot is due on October 21st and the Infrastructure Wiring proposals are due on or before November 4th.

Senate Passes One-Year ADA Exemption

On September 15th, the Senate agreed to the insertion in its Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill (H.R. 2862) of an amendment that exempts for one year the E-Rate and all of universal service from the Anti Deficiency Act (ADA). . While E-Rate advocates have been pushing for a permanent exemption to ADA and two pieces of legislation that would achieve that goal – S. 241 and HR 2533 – have continued to gain cosponsors, this action might prevent E-Rate funding disruptions next year. The Senate’s CJS spending bill now heads to conference with the House’s version, which does not contain any ADA exemption language. It is not yet clear when a final CJS bill will be ready for final passage.

...from the EdTechActionNetwork (ETAN)

Legislation Passed to Keep the Government Running, But It Slashes EETT Funding; More Work Ahead for Education Technology Advocates

Congress passed legislation (called a Continuing Resolution) that provides funding to the Federal agencies that have not yet received their FY 06 funding allocations, thereby averting a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on October 1. The Continuing Resolution states that each program will be funded at the LOWER level of the FY 05 appropriation, the FY 06 Senate Committee Bill or the FY 06 House bill. The EETT program will therefore be funded at $300 million, the lowest of the three allocations and 40% less than its FY 05 funding level of $496 million. The Continuing Resolution will expire on November 18. Because the Department of Education will not distribute funding under the EETT program prior to November 18, the Continuing Resolution will not have an immediate impact on the program. However, it is possible that Congress will attempt to extend this Continuing Resolution to the end of FY 06, thereby gutting EETT to $300 million for the entire fiscal year. To prevent this outcome ISTE and CoSN will join forces with education organizations and will activate the ETAN network in the coming weeks to make sure Congress hears from the education community that this approach to funding is unacceptable and EETT must be funded at the $425 million level that was included in the Senate Committee bill.

...from the EdTechActionNetwork (ETAN)