About one-third of the 122 audits over the past year revealed substantial violations, FCC Inspector General H. Walker Feaster III told the subcommittee. He asked for more auditors to provide oversight and for changes to ensure competitive bidding and clear rules, the Associated Press reported June 17.
Subcommittee Chair Rep. James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.) reported on a number of recent investigations in Puerto Rico, Milwaukee, New York, and San Francisco, according to the June 18 New York Times. He also cited one case in Chicago in which telephone company SBC was forced to return $8.8 million in federal funds after networking equipment purchased for schools was never installed.
“We should not let a few bad apples spoil the bushel,” said Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), who pointed out that the e-rate program has helped secure Internet access for schools in his district. “It’s clear that this is a program that is helping to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots.”
Some blame problems on the program's complicated rules and regulations. “The number of hoops you have to go through is just stunning,” said Brett Himsworth, a consultant who helps school districts apply for e-rate funding, in the June 17 Christian Science Monitor. “The majority of [questionable] cases are not because of fraud. . . . Applicants are having trouble following the rules.”
The Education and Libraries Networks Coalition, a group representing U.S. library and educational associations, voiced support for efforts to preserve the program’s integrity through stricter monitoring and strong punishments against violators: “Simply put, the e-rate program has achieved too much . . . means too much to the millions of students, educators, and library patrons it serves, and has so much further to go to allow it to be derailed by limited instances of waste, fraud, and abuse,” EdLiNC said in a written statement.
Posted June 18, 2004.