June 2007 — News
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House Subcommittee Flat Funds EETT
Things are looking up for education technology funding in the United Sates House of Representatives. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) has approved an appropriations bill that would provide $272.25 million for Enhancing Education Through Technology (E2T2 or EETT), which had previously been recommended for zero-funding in the Bush administration's proposed 2008 budget.
Title II D of the No Child Left Behind Act, Enhancing Education Through Technology, includes an item called "Education Technology State Grants." It provides funding to states and school districts to support the deployment and integration of educational technology into classroom instruction and is the sole source of federal funding in NCLB specifically supporting these technologies. Back in February, the U.S. Department of Education released details of the Bush administrations proposed 2008 budget as it pertained to education, which included a complete elimination of E2T2 funding.
"After several years of threatening to eliminate this program, the House [has] validated the need and importance of education technology to improving schools and meeting the goals of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)," said Mary Ann Wolf, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). "However, states districts, and schools recognize that this number--$272 million, which is also our current funding--makes it very difficult to maximize the potential for students and teachers; and as a nation, we cannot afford to miss this opportunity to improve education. We encourage the full committee and the Senate to respond by increasing EETT funding to previous levels so that education, like all industries, can effectively utilize technology to teach math, science, and reading in new ways. It is our responsibility to ensure that our students are work and college ready in the global economy."
Funding for EETT has declined over the years, from $696 million in 2004 down to its current level. The EETT funding approved by LHHS would keep the program level with the funding received over the last two years. For groups supporting education technology funding, the news isn't perfect; but, coupled with the ATTAIN bill proposed last month by U.S. Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Judy Biggert (R-IL), and Ron Kind (D-WI), the ed tech landscape doesn't appear to be quite as bleak as it seemed earlier this year.
Keith Krueger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), stated: "The Subcommittee's support for FY 2008 funding the Enhancing Education Through Technology program (EETT) , coupled with the recent introduction of HR 2449 to reauthorize EETT, shows that congressional leaders are beginning to see the importance of education technology to improving learning. Educators are indebted to the leadership of Chairman David Obey and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard."
