Brief (1)
Sub. for HB 2591 would establish a state education technology network known as "KAN-ED." The network would be part of the statewide high speed backbone provided for and managed by the Division of Information Systems and Communications (DISC), State Department of Administration.
Purpose of KAN-ED. The purpose of KAN-ED would be to implement for school districts (including cooperatives), accredited private schools, and public libraries: Internet connectivity with a minimum speed of 128 kilobits per second; distance learning capability; and integration of technology into the curriculum.
KAN-ED Information Project Plan. The Commissioner of Education and the State Librarian, or their designees, would be responsible for preparing an information technology project plan for KAN-ED. The plan would be prepared in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer of the State Board of Regents (or a designee) and submitted to the Executive Chief Information Technology Officer, pursuant to KSA 1999 Supp. 75-7201 et seq. That statute, among other things, requires agencies to prepare program statements of projects that include budget estimates.
Restrictions and Conditions. Certain restrictions and conditions would govern both the information technology project plan and KAN-ED services with the intent of:
KAN-ED Funds. Sub. for HB 2591 would create two KAN-ED funds--one to be administered by the State Board of Education and one to be administered by the State Librarian. Into the funds would be credited any public or private money for information technology projects included in the information technology project plan. Expenditures from both funds would be subject to appropriations.
Contracts. All contracts for KAN-ED telecommunications services would be subject to KSA 75-4701 et seq. These statutes include provisions that relate to contracts by state agencies for information processing services and equipment.
Reporting Requirement. The Executive Chief Information Technology Officer would have to report annually to designated legislative committees on the information technology project plan and its implementation and moneys received and expended for KAN-ED.
Internet Policies. For purposes of KAN-ED, schools and public libraries would be required to establish policies regarding acceptable use of Internet access and filtering of content accessible through the Internet.
Charitable Contributions. Nonprofit organizations may be established by the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation to accept charitable tax-exempt contributions for KAN-ED purposes.
Effective Date of Establishment of KAN-ED. The KAN-ED network would not be established and operational until July 1, 2001.
Background
Sub. for HB 2591 originated as a recommendation of the 1999 Special Committee on Education. The Special Committee recommended for passage HB 2591, which would have established the structure by which school districts, education service centers, and public libraries would be connected to the state's technology backbone. As introduced, the bill would have created a mechanism for approving and funding the hardware, software, and technical support needed to implement projects contained in a state information technology project plan developed jointly by the Commissioner of Education and the State Librarian, or their designees. In developing the plan, the Commissioner of Education and the State Librarian would have consulted with the Chief Executive Officer of the State Board of Regents, or a designee.
In the introduced version of the bill, the Commissioner of Education, the State Librarian, and the Chief Executive Officer of the State Board of Regents (or their designees) would have constituted the KAN-ED Information Technology Committee, which would have been involved in preparation or revision of the information technology project plan and other activities related to promotion of collaboration in technology-based education. The introduced version of the bill also specified the types of services and applications to be provided by KAN-ED and authorized the Director of DISC to enter into a service-level agreement with the Kansas Research and Education Network (KANREN) to provide staff inservice training and technical support to participating school districts and libraries.
The substitute bill recommended by the House Committee on Education retained basic features of the original bill, but deleted provisions related to specific services and applications that would be provided by KAN-ED. Also deleted is reference to the service-level agreement with KANREN. However, under the substitute bill, specific services and applications that would be provided under KAN-ED could be spelled out in the information technology project plan developed by the Commissioner of Education and the State Librarian, as could linkages with other information networks, such as KANREN. In addition, nothing would prevent the Commissioner of Education and the State Librarian from appointing an advisory committee to assist in the preparation and revision of the plan.
HB 2591was separately referred to the House Committee on Utilities and that Committee reviewed the substitute bill recommended by the House Committee on Education and further amended it. The House Utilities Committee's amendments included a statement of purpose; several provisions that sought to prevent DISC from competing unfairly with private-sector vendors; a statement that KAN-ED is not limited to existing technology for any network reconfigurations and expansions in the future; a reporting requirement; a requirement for schools and libraries to adopt policies concerning use of Internet access and filtering; and authorization to the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation to establish nonprofit organizations to accept charitable donations for KAN-ED purposes.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means amended the bill to substitute the word "implement" for the word "provide" in the purpose statement of the bill and postpone from July 1, 2000 to July 1, 2001, the date for the network's establishment and operation.
It is estimated that first-year costs to install and operate KAN-ED would be $17.5 million. The total consists of $4.5 million in one-time start-up costs and $13.0 million in annual recurring operating costs. This estimate assumed -establishment and operation of the KAN-ED network beginning July 1, 2000.
In his FY 2001 budget recommendations for the State Board of Education, the Governor includes $4.5 million from the Children's Initiatives Fund (tobacco money) for implementation costs of KAN-ED for schools and libraries. One of the options the Legislature has considered for reducing the cost of installing and operating the KAN-ED network is the use of federal E-Rate discounts. The E-Rate program is administered by the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administration Company (USAC) under the Federal Communications Commission. E-Rate discounts can be applied to telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections. In mid-January, the Department of Education and the State Library filed applications to the School and Libraries Division for E-Rate discount consideration. Both parties filed as consortia. The consortia intend to contract with DISC as the Internet Service Provider (Internet 1 and 2). The effect of the one-year postponement of the date to establish the KAN-ED network (Senate Committee version) is that the consortia would have to decline any E-Rate discounts because funds would not be available for FY 2001 to trigger discounts. However, the consortia could resubmit applications for E-rate discounts in January 2001.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html