How are public schools funding advanced telecommunications?

Measuring funding is difficult as schools receive support for advanced telecommunications programs from a myriad of sources. Because of the complexity of this issue, measuring actual funding amounts was considered beyond the scope of this survey. However, the survey did list several potential sources of support and asked whether the school received hardware, software, or funding from the sources. About 9 out of 10 public schools reported receiving support from their school district, and 72 percent from state or federal government programs (Figure 1). About a third of schools reported receiving support from parents and parent organizations, and about the same percentage received support from businesses. Fifteen percent of schools received support from teachers or students while 5 percent received support from other programs or individuals (not shown). School administrators were also asked to indicate the primary source of support. Schools most frequently cited the school district (58 percent), followed by state and federal programs (32 percent). This primary support was related to the school's poverty concentration: for example, state and federal government programs were cited as the primary source by 48 percent of schools with the highest concentration of poverty compared to the 14 percent of schools with the lowest concentrations of poverty; the school district was the primary source for 43 percent of highest poverty schools compared to 78 percent of schools with the lowest poverty (not shown).

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