Secretary Riley expresses support for the Joint Board's recommendations and states that they are good news for America's schools and libraries. Secretary Riley also says that these substantial discounts move the nation down the road towards an Internet connection for every classroom by the year 2000. The AFT allows for wealthier school districts to pay more than poor urban and rural schools. The Early Childhood Development Center Legislative Coalition argues that pre-kindergarten institutions should be eligible for universal service support. The American Association of Community Colleges filing with the Association of Community Colleges Trustees suggests that community colleges and their libraries should also be eligible for universal service support as they are underfunded and could work with government agencies and K-12 schools to provide telecommunications capacity to underserved communities and student groups.
Coalition supports the creation of an advisory board on discounted service.
The Council of Greater City Schools also advises the FCC to establish a permanent advisory body, comprised of school district representatives, to review the services that should be supported in education facilities. In order to be successful, ACE suggests, technology plans must be sustained over a 3 to 5 year life cycle. ACE also suggests that the least advanced services should receive the highest level of support. The New York State Board of Regents and the State Education Department argue that universal service support should be extended to colleges and universities, museums and other cultural institutions. These technologies, then, should also be considered for universal service support.