Education Excellence

In 1996, the General Assembly anticipated the advantages of using technology as a tool to promote learning in South Carolina. To facilitate the infusion of technology into the schools, the General Assembly created the K–12 School Technology Initiative which is guided by a unique public/private partnership comprised of the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), SCETV, the State Budget and Control Board, the State Library and the state’s private sector telecommunications providers. This report highlights the successes South Carolina has realized through the K–12 School Technology Initiative in meeting the mandates of state and federal legislation.

This report centers around three major themes, the first of which being the 2003–2008 South Carolina Educational Technology Plan. This plan outlines five key dimensions: Learners and their Environment, Professional Capacity, Instructional Capacity, Community Connections, and Support Capacity. These dimensions are regarded as synergistic parts of a single system. The framework they create emphasizes a combination of critical elements that are necessary for a school district and/or school to effectively use technology to accelerate student achievement and learning.

The second theme is based on the report entitled, “K-12 Digital Information Systems – More than a Screen and a Keyboard” (2008). This report makes recommendations for infrastructure, capacity, resources and access guidelines that need to be in place in order for South Carolina to foster productive, technologically-literate citizens. The report was produced by the Tech Think committee in the summer of 2008 as a call to the General Assembly to place major emphasis on access, infrastructure and educational technology. Several recommendations made for consideration in this report align and are fully supported by K-12 Technology Initiative committee initiatives.

The third theme interwoven throughout the report is the nationwide emphasis on the push to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in our nation’s schools. Education Week’s Technology Counts Survey grades each state in three core areas of state policy and practice: access to instructional technology, utilization of technology and the capacity to effectively implement educational technology. The K-12 School Technology Initiative has contributed to South Carolina earning a B- in the survey’s three core areas in 2007 and 2008.

The funding allocated by the General Assembly is supplemented by E-Rate funding from the federal level, however, E-Rate funding is in jeopardy as there is a movement in Congress to eliminate the program entirely. Without both sources of funding, schools would not only lose connectivity, but the invaluable resources necessary to facilitate academic achievement among students as well.

Since the inception of the E-rate program, South Carolina schools and libraries have received an average of $33.7 million annually in telecommunication and Internet access discounts through both individual and consortium applications. The budgets of our schools and libraries are always stretched to the breaking point, and the funding from E-rate has proven critical in allowing the state of South Carolina to build and support the telecommunications infrastructure to meet the growing technology needs of our schools and libraries and to provide Internet access to students and library patrons. 

The Division of State Information Technology (State IT) serves as the administrator for the K-12 School Technology Initiative funds under the direction of the School Technology Initiative. State IT also files E-rate applications each year as a consortium for both telecommunications services and Internet access on behalf of South Carolina public schools and libraries as well as being the state E-rate coordination resource for South Carolina to assist other applicants in the state.  The State Department of Education (SCDE) determines eligibility for public schools in South Carolina and acts as the Universal Services Administration Company (USAC) certified approver for school district technology plans while the State Library acts as the USAC certified approver for library technology plans.

Because of the uncertainty of E-Rate funding, the General Assembly must step in to ensure our schools’ educational technology and support needs are met. The future of the E-Rate program is, at best, uncertain. The statement below from Education Week (2008) clearly shows the direction of the nation in implementing technology to teach 21st century skills.

Read the 2008 Progress Report of the South Carolina K-12 Technology Initiative. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the report. If you do not have it, click here to download it for free.

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"Education experts point out that technology is just not a one time cost and that states should have a well-developed approach to technology planning and spending."

EDUCATION WEEK, 2005