CUE > Ed Tech Action Network Awarded CUE’s first Legislative Advocacy Award

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Advancing Student Achievement Through Technology

Ed Tech Action Network Awarded CUE’s first Legislative Advocacy Award

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Oakland, CA, March 19, 2007 — Computer Using Educators (CUE, Inc.) is pleased to announce the Legislative Advocacy Award for 2006-2007 has been presented to the Ed Tech Action Network (ETAN), a collaborative effort between the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) for their sustained and/or extraordinary efforts in promoting the educational use of technology to advance student achievement through legislation, successful defense of funding or other legislation related to education that supports CUE's mission and membership.


Mike Lawrence, CUE's Executive Director, will present the award to Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN at 12th Annual K-12 School Networking Conference (March 28-30), at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero in San Francisco, produced by CoSN. Don Knezek, CEO of ISTE, was recognized for ISTE's role in ETAN at CUE's Annual Conference in Palm Springs, earlier this month, along with Marianne Pack, CoSN's Treasurer.

The Ed Tech Action Network was formed to provide a unified voice in Washington, DC, as well as at the state level, in support of educational technology.  ETAN provides a method of providing a call to action by members to make needed contacts with Senators or Congresspersons regarding pending legislation and assistance in what message needs to be communicated.  As a direct result of ETAN’s efforts, several critical Ed Tech initiatives have moved forward.  

For the last two years in a row, the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT), a critical part of the No Child Left Behind Act that supports school technology, was eliminated from the Bush Administration’s initial budget for next fiscal year.  As a result of the ongoing efforts of ETAN (and other organizations), funding for EETT was restored; this year by being included in the Omnibus funding bill and chances appear good that the program will now be funded at a $272 million level.  

ETAN is also recognized by CUE has having played a critical role in defeating questionable legislation. Last May, the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 (DOPA) was passed overwhelmingly in the House.  This bill would have required all schools and libraries that receive E-rate funding to protect minors from online predators when using "Commercial Social Networking Websites" and "Chat Rooms", effectively eliminating the use of such systems for legitimate educational purposes.  Because ETAN was there to speak with other organizations across the United States, this legislation appears to be destined to die in the Senate.

CUE sees ETAN as a strong voice in support of continued E-Rate funding, providing public and private schools and libraries with discounts of 20%–90% for telecommunications services, Internet access and internal connections at the school site level. Since its passage in 1998, E-Rate has had a major impact in increasing public school classroom Internet connections and has also assisted low-income, minority, and rural students by narrowing the digital divide.

ETAN explains their goals: “Now more than ever, Washington needs to hear what you have to say. Support for Ed Tech is in peril at all levels of government. Important federal programs that fund education technology, including technology training for teachers, hardware and software acquisition, and infrastructure development, stand at the brink of elimination because of limited federal funds and numerous state budget crises. More importantly, many policy experts have not yet grasped the power of education technology to transform learning nor its ability to help ensure that all students achieve and all teachers are of high quality. “The Ed Tech Action Network is designed to provide you with the tools and training you need to be a powerful advocate for improved technology learning and teaching at the local, state, and federal levels.

Chris York, the CUE Legislative Advocacy Committee Chairman states, “Because of their support of state and federal policy and legislative initiatives, ETAN has helped ensure that the critical role that educational technology plays in the education of our students and our continued ability to compete in the world marketplace is not lost on our legislators.”

In addition to the Legislative Advocacy Award, CUE, Inc. has provided leadership in education and technology for almost 30 years through high quality professional development, legislative advocacy, publications, awards and recognition, professional collaboration, and by producing California's premier educational technology conference. More information on CUE, Inc. is available at www.cue.org.


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