Of the 28 states that regularly collect their own data, many use different sets of indicators and different means of collecting them. Roberts of the U.S. Department of Education says a more unified approach for data collection across the states would make it easier for her department and others to make the case for technology. All but eight states provided funds for education technology in fiscal 1998. States draw on a variety of sources to pay for technology other than their general funds. Georgia and Indiana, for example, depend heavily on lottery revenues.
Some states also benefit from large grants from businesses or philanthropies.
Only 22 states target technology funds to particular disadvantaged schools or districts. Of the 22, only eight states target funds on the basis of technology availability. Others distribute funds on the basis of wealth, under the assumption that poorer schools and districts have less money to spend on technology. Tennessee adopted such a policy, explains Jacqueline Shrago, one of the state's two directors of technology, because some of its poorest schools have used federal Title I funding on technology. Of the states that don't target technology funds to promote equity, many distribute the money on an equal per-pupil basis.