Building Education Technology Infrastructure: A Policy History of Universal Service and the E-Rate, 1927–Present

• In Event: 47.096 - MTCC Roundtable Session 20
  In Roundtable Session: 47.096-5 - Strategic Approaches to School Reform: Technology, Infrastructure, and Four-Day School Weeks

Abstract

This paper undertakes a descriptive policy history that seeks to document the origins of the universal service standard in The Radio Act of 1927 and its evolution through policy and legislative changes in the mid-1990s and, more recently, in the 2000s. Key questions are: How have communications law and policy directed communications infrastructure development in the U.S. through universal service provisions for K-12 schools? What foundational concepts and commitments and the key legal, regulatory, and/or fiscal mechanisms have been advanced? How have these changed over time? What, now, are the key issues and how will telecommunications policy affect broadband access for K-12 schools and communities nationwide?

Author

• Sousan Arafeh, Southern Connecticut State University