Bulletins

Schools in Western Pennsylvania and nationwide are slow to take advantage of the Internet, a Bush administration official said Monday in Pittsburgh.

The Federal Communications Commission is doing a poor job of overseeing the E-rate program, the Government Accountability Office said in a report last week.

The man who didn't always fall into line behind FCC chief Michael Powell will take the reins of the commission. President Bush this week tapped Kevin Martin to succeed Powell as chairman of the FCC. As a currently sitting commissioner, Martin gets the keys to the corner suite without first running the gauntlet of a Senate confirmation.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should assume greater oversight of the eRate, should more closely analyze how the money is being used in the nation's schools, and should rid the $2.25 billion-a-year program of the waste, fraud, and abuse that have marred its reputation in recent years, according to a government report released March 16.

MANHASSET, N.Y. — President Bush on Wednesday named Kevin Martin to lead the Federal Communications Commission, according to a White House statement.

While Congress last year temporarily resolved an accounting dispute that had delayed disbursement of E-rate telecomm discounts, that reprieve was only supposed to last a year.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Big phone company mergers and stricter enforcement of broadcast indecency rules are likely to dominate the agenda of the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who may be nominated as early as this week.

Commission rules establish procedures to prevent persons who have “defrauded the government or engaged in similar acts through activities associated with or related to the schools and libraries support mechanism” from receiving the benefits associated with that program.

Good afternoon. On behalf of the entire staff at eSchool News, I'd like to salute you all for the job you do every day to manage the operation of your districts, and especially your judicious and effective use of technology to improve school efficiencies and raise student achievement.

Late last year, the company's Inter-Tel Technologies Inc. agreed to plead guilty and pay $9.5 million in charges and costs to settle federal charges of rigging bids, inflating prices and submitting false documents in connection with the federally funded E-Rate program to to connect schools and libraries to the Internet in Michigan and California.