I attended a meeting regarding the E Rate program on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 from 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. at the Hawaii State Capitol Room 329, which is a federal program that gives public schools discounts on their Internet and telecommunications services based on the students’ families’ income. It helps schools with families that have economic hardship. There is a company that helps schools get the information to meet the federal standards. This program will save Hawaii money. With this bad economy, anything that reduces our state’s costs is terrific. Moreover, we don’t know how long the federal government can uphold this program, thus, our state needs to meet the federal guidelines as soon as possible. I commend Rep. Jerry L. Chang for finding this service and looking out for ways to save the State of Hawaii money.
