Network Nebraska
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LB 1208 is signed into Law
4/28/2006
LB 1208 was co-introduced on January 18 by Senators Raikes, Pederson, Baker, and Stuhr. This bill http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/pdf/FINAL_LB1208_1.pdf (650KB, 72 pgs) embodies many of the recommendations contained in the final report of the Distance Education Enhancement Task Force, which began meeting on July 6, 2005. http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/reports/committees/distanceed_1205.pdf(20MB, 103 pgs) Superintendents Michael Cunning of Sutherland and Hershey Public Schools and Dan Hoesing of Laurel-Concord and Coleridge Public Schools represented administrators on the Task Force.
LB 1208 was heard in the Education Committee on 2/13/06 and was voted out of committee on a 7-1 vote. http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/PDF/CommitteeStatement_LB1208.pdf Thirteen persons testified in favor and one person testified as neutral. As of 4/13/06, LB 1208 and LB 1208A were passed by the Legislature and had been signed into law by the Governor.
An overview of the basic principles and significant provisions of the distance education improvement plan follows, with language lifted from LB 1208. You are encouraged to read the actual bill for more detail.
The distance education improvement plan is centered on three general principles. First, the plan recognizes the responsibility of school districts, ESUs, and public postsecondary education institutions to make decisions related to participation in distance education. Second, the plan encourages the exchange of distance education courses using a statewide network, known as Network Nebraska. Third, the plan provides for statewide coordination through a new entity, to be called the Distance Education Council.
Policy
· The Chief Information Officer (CIO) shall provide access to each school district, ESU, community college, state college, and the University of Nebraska at the earliest feasible date and no later than July 1, 2012. [p. 70, lines 16-20] The network shall…meet the demand of state agencies, local governments, and educational entities, as defined in section 18 of this act. [p. 71, lines 10-13]
· The CIO shall bid for such equipment and software and shall allow school districts, ESUs, community colleges, state colleges, and the University of Nebraska to participate in such statewide leasing or purchasing contracts. [p. 45, lines 11-14]
· Interlocal agreements forming distance education consortia shall terminate on June 30, 2007. On July 1, 2007, educational service units shall assume responsibility for distance education services that are, on the effective date of this act, being provided to member school districts through a distance education consortium. [p. 52, lines 13-18]
· On or before December 31, 2006, each distance education consortium shall hold a meeting of the superintendents of all participating school districts to choose and educational service unit to be the successor in interest for the assets and liabilities of the distance education consortium by a majority vote of the superintendents present at the meeting. All assets and liabilities, including staff and contracts with service providers, shall be transferred to such educational service unit on July 1, 2007. [p. 52, lines 18-25]
· The (Distance Education) council shall not approve purchases of the council in excess of $10,000 without approval of the technical panel of the NITC that the purchases are in compliance with any applicable commission standards. [p. 56, lines 18-22]
· (Equipment and software) must be in compliance with technical standards, as set forth by the NITC [p. 55, lines 10-11].
· The Nebraska Department of Education shall promulgate rules related to section 22 (equipment) and section 23 (incentives) [p. 59, lines 9-10 & p. 63, lines 1-2]
Funding
· School districts and ESUs will be eligible to receive equipment reimbursements of up to $20,000 from the Education Innovation Fund (NDE) beginning the first year of access to Network Nebraska and ending in 2013. School districts would be required to send or receive at least two synchronous video courses each year for four years or risk forfeiture of funds. [p. 57, lines 1-8 and 19-25]
· Funding is provided to the Distance Education Council (through NDE) to carry out its responsibilities of distance education scheduling and training, an event clearinghouse, and administration of a learning management system. [LB 1208A, Section 1]
· For fiscal years 2007-08 through 2015-16, NDE shall provide distance education incentives from the Education Innovation Fund to school districts and ESUs for qualified distance education courses. Each unit of distance learning would be worth up to $1,000 and be paid one year in arrears. [p. 59, lines 11-16]
§ The formula for incentives will be based on ONE unit for SENDING a synchronous video or an internet-based distance education course;
§ ONE unit for RECEIVING a synchronous video course; and
§ ONE extra unit for SENDING a synchronous video course that reaches a sparse or very sparse school district. [p. 61, lines 1-23)
· A technology allowance will be added to the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act for school district access and transport charges equal to 85% of the local system costs less any federal reimbursements from the E-rate program. [p. 18, lines 21-25; p. 19, lines 1-9]
· A technology allowance will be added to the minimum allocation in the ESU infrastructure funding formula for access and transport charges equal to 85% of the ESU costs less any federal reimbursements from the E-rate program. [p. 47, lines 17-25 & p. 48, lines 1-5]
· Receipts for courses shared with other school districts will be excluded from accountable receipts in the local budget limitation but not from the state aid formula. [p. 40, lines 6-17; p. 33, lines 19-22]
· The Attracting Excellence to Teaching Program Act Fund would be funded from FY 2006-07 ($250,000) to FY 2007-2008 ($500,000) to FY 2008-2009 ($750,000) to FY 2009-10 ($1,000,000) with level funding at $1,000,000 through FY2015-16. [pp 6-8, Section 1 (4) c-f]
Coordination
· The (Distance Education) Council shall be composed of one administrator or his or her designee from each ESU. Coordination will include brokering of courses, scheduling and prioritization of courses, assessment of distance education needs, administration of learning management systems, and evaluation of distance education services. [pp 54-56, Sections 19-21]
· The Distance Education Council will be required to have representation on either the NITC Education Council, the Technical Panel, or the NITC, or the governor shall appoint one member to the NITC. [p. 66, lines 10-16]
How might this plan affect my school district?
First, it provides funding for equipment to high school districts affected by aging networking and video compression technology and enables them to upgrade and join the 100 other districts that have already migrated to IP-based, high bandwidth networking. The plan also incentivizes K-12 to participate in Network Nebraska, the statewide education network, by providing reimbursements for distance learning course exchange. Secondly, the plan establishes a Distance Education Council, whose responsibility will be to coordinate K-12 distance education statewide, rather than having distance education course exchange isolated within separate distance learning consortia. Thirdly, the bill tasks the CIO with establishing a cost structure for the network based on actual costs plus administrative expenses and charging participants according to that cost structure. State aid would be changed to include a state-aid allowance for technology.
Will school districts be forced to connect to Network Nebraska?
No, LB 1208 offers equipment reimbursements, distance education course exchange incentives, and scheduling services to any district that agrees to connect to Network Nebraska for statewide transport. School districts that apply for the equipment and incentives must send or receive two semester courses per year for four years. School districts that do not opt to connect to Network Nebraska can still exchange distance education courses through other means—they just wouldn’t be eligible for equipment reimbursement, course exchange incentives, or scheduling services.
Would my district still be eligible for eRate, even if connected to Network Nebraska?
Yes. LB 1208 charges the CIO to "Apply in aggregate for reimbursements from the federal Universal Service Fund …on behalf of school districts requesting to be included in such aggregated application.” Schools could still elect to apply for eRate on their own. [p. 70, lines 23-25]
This analysis was prepared by the staff of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission (NITC). http://www.nitc.state.ne.us 402-471-3560
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Network Nebraska
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