More on School Internet Program Lacks Oversight, Investigator Says

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Daniel Golding <dgolding () gmu edu>
Date: June 18, 2004 2:11:01 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] More on School Internet Program Lacks Oversight, 
Investigator Says


For IP, if you wish...

Karen is quite correct in this. In fact, its worse: There is an entire
ecosystem of systems integrators and contractors who do nothing else.
Servicing schools who pay via e-rate is the entire business.

I've run across some of these guys, and it is a line of work that seems 
to
pay very well indeed. Their efforts are assisted by an aspect of the
telecommunications industry not widely known on the outside - no one 
pays
retail price, no matter how many units you are buying. All the vendors 
have
"standard" discounts, at it just gets better as the quantities increase.
Now, this isn't normally a problem - its just something you negotiate 
when
purchasing equipment. In this case, its simply another device for the
Systems Integrators to use in separating e-fund money from the schools -
they can make a huge margin (sometimes 40% or more) by simply charging 
full
retail.

Perhaps this money could be better spent. Wouldn't it make more sense to
have better Internet connectivity in Libraries? Especially in lower 
grades,
computing doesn't always mesh well with the core mission of literacy. 
Also,
librarians (especially ones with more recent degrees) are often better
equipped to handle IT decisions than overloaded classroom teachers and
principals.

- Daniel Golding

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