SB 104-09: COMET Act of 2021 (Passed)

[Joseph Cao]

So firstly, seconding AGA's concerns about where exactly this fits into the budget.

In addition, we allocated several billion dollars' worth of funds for this exact purpose not two months ago with the Let's Get Wired Act, itself built on the CHONKYFIRE Act. I suppose there may be a case to be made for adding a specific category to improve connectivity in schools, as opposed to the existing categories of improving connectivity nationwide and expanding connectivity in schools, but I apologize if it doesn't seem obvious to me at the moment.

If you are looking at purchasing these devices directly then there is also a 5% tax on such devices to consider in your final accounting.

[Joseph Cao]

Also, and I realize this really should have been done during initial questioning, may I ask how the sponsor derived that $75 billion figure?

(There will be an amendment forthcoming but I'd like to get Ishan's feedback on this.)

[Joseph Cao]

Also, and I realize this really should have been done during initial questioning, may I ask how the sponsor derived that $75 billion figure?

Ishan?

[Joseph Cao]

Also, and I realize this really should have been done during initial questioning, may I ask how the sponsor derived that $75 billion figure?

Ishan?

Presuming that every student gets a computer and since there are 56.4 million students, and if everyone gets a $1250 computer, the total cost would be 70.5 billion. I chose 75 billion because some computers could be more expensive.

Right, thanks. Napkin math with your figures and the 5% tax I mentioned earlier does bring the total cost up to about 74 billion, in case we need to think about raising that figure slightly to account for higher prices.

[Joseph Cao]

Assuming MB's amendment has passed I'll just introduce this.

AN ACT
To make sure that schools have educational devices for their students and high speed internet in schools.


Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled,

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the School Technology Grants Act of 2021.

Section 2. Content

1. $75 billion shall be appropriated to school districts across Atlasia for purchasing devices that may include buying laptops/tablets/desktop computers/iPads/iMacs/Macbooks/ for educational use towards students.
2. $5 billion shall be appropriated towards making sure that every school in Atlasia has access to high speed WiFi.
32. The Government of the Republic of Atlasia shall have full responsibility for funding everything in this Act.
43. No federal government funds may be used for purchase of new or additional school security equipment, including but not limited to surveillance cameras, facial recognition devices, or metal detectors.

Section 3. Taking Effect
1. This Act shall take effect immediately following the passage of this bill.

As has been said, we've allocated plenty towards making sure all areas of Atlasia get high-speed internet access, including school districts. It isn't a problem that needs to be solved a second time in a separate bill like this one.

And on a separate note, there really ought to be some kind of more targeted way to approach this problem; as AGA has mentioned, not all schools will need these devices. Targeting lower-income school districts or districts with less internet infrastructure might work better than just throwing laptops at every student. In the latter case there might also need to be a section to tie this bill's implementation to that of our previous broadband bills to prevent schools ending up with devices that they can't use.

[Joseph Cao]

Working on an amendment to address my earlier concerns. Might have it up within a day or two depending on scheduling things.

[Joseph Cao]

Sorry about the amendment delay, everyone. RL plus the costing stuff Yankee alluded to is proving an extremely thorny pain in the u kno what.

And for the record, assuming Ishan is not about to answer, the act as it currently stands has no overlap with other laws – my amendment cut all that out and hopefully the upcoming one will make it more targeted on top of that.

[Joseph Cao]

It is a little tricky in the sense that you can't control what students do with the devices. Nobody is going to guarantee that students go to online courses and learn them in the absence of teachers to supervise that, and they have no reason to do so if it isn't accounted for in the curriculum somehow. More broadly there isn't a whole lot that can be done that doesn't tie back to some kind of consideration about the students' existing curricula which we at the federal level are obviously hard-pressed to micromanage like this.

I assume the emergency scenario Ishan's talked about is precisely why the bill was written in the first place, though. Mileage may vary on the extent to which One Device Per Child schemes are necessary for emergencies.

[Joseph Cao]

We're still within 24 hours, aren't we?

I can sponsor.

[Joseph Cao]

Thanks to Muad'dib for the amendment. While this is again redundant, like a lot of what I've been doing lately, it does need to be said that this amendment is in line with the more targeted vision I have had regarding this bill as something more than an indiscriminate handout of technological resources to everyone, including large numbers of students and school districts that already have access to them.

As such, AYE on the amendment.

[Joseph Cao]

Scott?

[Joseph Cao]

Nay. As mentioned, we are providing educational technology. School security has been funded by other bills as well, it's not like they're short of resources or anything.

(Might also be a good idea to change the thread title once we're through with this, Scott.)

[Joseph Cao]

I'll see what paths there are toward filling in the basic framework Muad'dib has provided, so in the meantime if anyone has preliminary proposals they're more than welcome to provide them.

[Joseph Cao]

Just an update to say I haven't forgotten about this. Still working on the precise threshold (and I'm keeping Scott's comments in mind) but for now I'd just like to throw a question out to the Senate about whether you think an eligibility requirement of "below X level of income or has not previously received a device via previous federal/regional/privately donated funding" works for you.

[Joseph Cao]

So what does the current text of the bill look like?

AN ACT
To make sure that schools have educational devices for their students and high speed internet in schools.


Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled,

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Educational Technology Grants Act of 2021.


Section 2. Content

1. $75 billion shall be appropriated to school districts and homeschooling students across Atlasia for purchasing devices and educational software. That may include buying laptops/tablets/desktop computers/iPads/iMacs/Macbooks/ for educational use.
2. Funding will be subject to means testing.
3. Funding will be available for two years and then subject to a full review to analyse the educational effectiveness. The Senate then decide if to continue funding for an additional three years.
4. The Government of the Republic of Atlasia shall have full responsibility for funding everything in this Act.
5. No federal government funds may be used for purchase of new or additional school security equipment, including but not limited to surveillance cameras, facial recognition devices, or metal detectors.


Section 3. Support Services

1. Tech Support will include using the existing school technical support staff, who will be eligible to receive training in the relevant devices and technologies.
2. An Atlasian Education Tech Support networking website created to enable better support of those making use of this program.
3. Devices are the property of the Republic of Atlasia and maybe bought at the end of their period of life for $1. There will be no further support provided in relation to this act after this point.
4. Devices not purchased at end of life are to be returned for refurbishment. These will then be used as backup and replacement devices for broken, stolen damaged devices.

Section 4. Taking Effect
1. This Act shall take effect immediately following the passage of this bill.

Also for the new Senate, reiterating my question from earlier about the eligibility requirements. Between one thing and another I've sort of hit a wall in composing the promised amendment and I would like to know where the Senate stands on it.

[Joseph Cao]

I’m a little bit worried about lumping in “educational software” with devices in this manner. Some clarification about exactly which software we’re talking about, or perhaps even an explicit preference for funding student devices first before appropriating anything for software, might be of use here.

Good point. Though even general guidelines covering software used only for coursework or aid in certain STEM/social sciences/languages might be too expansive to be of much use. I’ll see what I can do (or what the Senate can come up with).

If we can't reach a threshold, just remove the means testing requirement.

For the record there isn’t a “we” here, I am simply trying to pick up my line of working where I left off a couple of weeks back, and the impasse is over exactly what threshold is fairest for the kids we need to help with this bill while not doubling up goodies for the more privileged kids who already have access to them, not whether such a threshold is necessary.

[Joseph Cao]

Roughly speaking, yes, I am using the costing procedures from the TMTH Act as a guide here. I think given that nobody has preemptively objected to it that I'll go ahead with the wording I mentioned earlier as the basic funding mechanism.

[Joseph Cao]

Like the Vice President, I must apologize for my less than stellar timelines, though I hope that can be made up for with the new cometary name (and rather substantial filling in) of this bill.

I think it's pretty much seaworthy at this point, but with the lateness of the hour and all the changes that have been made I'd hope other Senators will comment here.

AN ACT
To make sure that schools have educational devices for their students and high speed internet in schools.


Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled,

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Educational Technology Grants Act Creating Opportunities for More Educational Technology (COMET) Act of 2021.

Section 2. Content

1. $75 billion shall be appropriated to school districts and homeschooling students across Atlasia for purchasing devices and educational software.
   a. ThatThis may include buying laptops/tablets/desktop computers/iPads/iMacs/Macbooks/purchasing any of the following for educational use.:
      i. laptops,
      ii. tablets,
      iii. desktop computers.
   b. All devices purchased under subsection (a) shall permit installation (and, if necessary, purchase) of the following forms of educational software as necessary:
      i. access to online courses,
      ii. supplemental course materials,
      iii. software systems that aid students in effective learning or comprehension.
   c. Individual schools shall be responsible for determining the choice of devices in subsection (a) and educational software in subsection (b) according to students' learning requirements.
   d. Funds shall be administered to school districts in the following phases, with the cost of the first phase not to exceed $20 billion and succeeding phases not to exceed $15 billion:
      i. phase one, targeting school districts with a median household income in the bottom quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2023;
      ii. phase two, targeting school districts with a median household income in the second quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2025;
      ii. phase three, targeting school districts with a median household income in the third quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2027;
      iv. phase four, targeting school districts with a median household income in the top two quintiles nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2029.
2. Funding will be subject to means testing. No school shall be entitled for treatment as required in section 1 if:
   a. it has an endowment of more than $50,000,000;
   b. it serves a school district with a median household income in the top 10% of households nationwide; or
   c. it has received educational devices or software under federal, state, regional, or private schemes within the last two years from the passage of this Act.
3. Funding for this section will be available for two years and then subject to a full review to analyse the educational effectiveness. The Senate shall then decide ifwhether to continue funding for an additional three years.
4. The Government of the Republic of Atlasia shall have full responsibility for funding everything in this Act.
5. No federal government funds may be used for purchase of new or additional school security equipment, including but not limited to surveillance cameras, facial recognition devices, or metal detectors.

Section 3. Support Services

1. Tech Support will include using the existing school technical support staff, who will be eligible to receive training in the relevant devices and technologies.
2. An Atlasian Education Tech Support networking website shall be created by the Department of Education to enable better support of those making use of this program.
3. Devices are the property of the Republic of Atlasia and may be bought at the end of their period of life for $1. There will be no further support provided in relation to this act after this point.
4. Devices not purchased at end of life are to be returned for refurbishment. These will then be used as backup and replacement devices for broken, stolen damaged devices.

Section 4. Taking Effect
1. This Act shall take effect immediately following the passage of this bill.

The biggest philosophical change is probably explicitly coupling the provision of these devices to educational software above and beyond what Muad'dib gave us. Giving laptops on their own to schools usually does not result in measurable or consistent improvements in academic outcomes, but helping teachers to target specific learning outcomes via this measure does. Hopefully this improves the effectiveness of the bill.

To answer Scott's question, yes, the income of school districts is an available statistic, and to answer Sestak's, educational software as defined here covers the kinds of learning tools that help students advance according to their learning levels plus any additional tools like those used in secondary school STEM/language courses, in experiments, and the like.

[Joseph Cao]

Minor cleanup in §2.1.d since the numbers stopped adding up to 75 billion somewhere between drafting and posting.

Also nobody has objected yet, or looked at it in all likelihood, so 24 hours to object to this amendment or offer your thoughts since I forgot to do that on Thursday night.

AN ACT
To make sure that schools have educational devices for their students and high speed internet in schools.


Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled,

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Educational Technology Grants Act Creating Opportunities for More Educational Technology (COMET) Act of 2021.

Section 2. Content

1. $75 billion shall be appropriated to school districts and homeschooling students across Atlasia for purchasing devices and educational software.
   a. ThatThis may include buying laptops/tablets/desktop computers/iPads/iMacs/Macbooks/purchasing any of the following for educational use.:
      i. laptops,
      ii. tablets,
      iii. desktop computers.
   b. All devices purchased under subsection (a) shall permit installation (and, if necessary, purchase) of the following forms of educational software as necessary:
      i. access to online courses,
      ii. supplemental course materials,
      iii. software systems that aid students in effective learning or comprehension.
   c. Individual schools shall be responsible for determining the choice of devices in subsection (a) and educational software in subsection (b) according to students' learning requirements.
   d. Funds shall be administered to school districts in the following phases, with the cost of the first and second phases not to exceed $20 billion each and succeeding phases not to exceed $15 billion:
      i. phase one, targeting school districts with a median household income in the bottom quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2023;
      ii. phase two, targeting school districts with a median household income in the second quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2025;
      ii. phase three, targeting school districts with a median household income in the third quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2027;
      iv. phase four, targeting school districts with a median household income in the top two quintiles nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2029.
2. Funding will be subject to means testing. No school shall be entitled for treatment as required in section 1 if:
   a. it has an endowment of more than $50,000,000;
   b. it serves a school district with a median household income in the top 10% of households nationwide; or
   c. it has received educational devices or software under federal, state, regional, or private schemes within the last two years from the passage of this Act.
3. Funding for this section will be available for two years and then subject to a full review to analyse the educational effectiveness. The Senate shall then decide ifwhether to continue funding for an additional three years.
4. The Government of the Republic of Atlasia shall have full responsibility for funding everything in this Act.
5. No federal government funds may be used for purchase of new or additional school security equipment, including but not limited to surveillance cameras, facial recognition devices, or metal detectors.

Section 3. Support Services

1. Tech Support will include using the existing school technical support staff, who will be eligible to receive training in the relevant devices and technologies.
2. An Atlasian Education Tech Support networking website shall be created by the Department of Education to enable better support of those making use of this program.
3. Devices are the property of the Republic of Atlasia and may be bought at the end of their period of life for $1. There will be no further support provided in relation to this act after this point.
4. Devices not purchased at end of life are to be returned for refurbishment. These will then be used as backup and replacement devices for broken, stolen damaged devices.

Section 4. Taking Effect

1. This Act shall take effect immediately following the passage of this bill.

[Joseph Cao]

Thank you, Ishan.

How does this look for everyone?

[Joseph Cao]

24 hours to object to the motion.

If Ishan could take it from here I'd be most grateful ; I don't anticipate being online tomorrow or the day after.

[Joseph Cao]

For the record, this is what we are voting on:

AN ACT
To make sure that schools have educational devices for their students and high speed internet in schools.


Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled,

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Creating Opportunities for More Educational Technology (COMET) Act of 2021.

Section 2. Content

1. $75 billion shall be appropriated to school districts and homeschooling students across Atlasia for purchasing devices and educational software.
   a. This may include purchasing any of the following for educational use:
      i. laptops,
      ii. tablets,
      iii. desktop computers.
   b. All devices purchased under subsection (a) shall permit installation (and, if necessary, purchase) of the following forms of educational software as necessary:
      i. access to online courses,
      ii. supplemental course materials,
      iii. software systems that aid students in effective learning or comprehension.
   c. Individual schools shall be responsible for determining the choice of devices in subsection (a) and educational software in subsection (b) according to students' learning requirements.
   d. Funds shall be administered to school districts in the following phases, with the cost of the first and second phases not to exceed $20 billion each and succeeding phases not to exceed $15 billion:
      i. phase one, targeting school districts with a median household income in the bottom quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2023;
      ii. phase two, targeting school districts with a median household income in the second quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2025;
      ii. phase three, targeting school districts with a median household income in the third quintile nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2027;
      iv. phase four, targeting school districts with a median household income in the top two quintiles nationwide, to be completed no later than September 1, 2029.
2. No school shall be entitled for treatment as required in section 1 if:
   a. it has an endowment of more than $50,000,000;
   b. it serves a school district with a median household income in the top 10% of households nationwide; or
   c. it has received educational devices or software under federal, state, regional, or private schemes within the last two years from the passage of this Act.
3. Funding for this section will be available for two years and then subject to a full review to analyze its educational effectiveness. The Senate shall then decide whether to continue funding for an additional three years.
4. The Government of the Republic of Atlasia shall have full responsibility for funding everything in this Act.
5. No federal government funds may be used for purchase of new or additional school security equipment, including but not limited to surveillance cameras, facial recognition devices, or metal detectors.

Section 3. Support Services

1. Tech Support will include using the existing school technical support staff, who will be eligible to receive training in the relevant devices and technologies.
2. An Atlasian Education Tech Support networking website shall be created by the Department of Education to enable better support of those making use of this program.
3. Devices are the property of the Republic of Atlasia and may be bought at the end of their period of life for $1. There will be no further support provided in relation to this act after this point.
4. Devices not purchased at end of life are to be returned for refurbishment. These will then be used as backup and replacement devices for broken, stolen damaged devices.

Section 4. Taking Effect

1. This Act shall take effect immediately following the passage of this bill.

Scott, when you update the thread title, could you also change the name to reflect Section 1?

[Joseph Cao]

Extending the vote by 72 hours from now in my capacity as Deputy. What kind of incompetent schedules a vote to happen at exactly the same time as the election?

Yes, I have done it before, shush. Once. At least I contacted people to vote as well!

[Joseph Cao]

Aye.

[Joseph Cao]

This passes the Senate by a vote of 11-1-1-5.