In a filing May 1 with the Federal Communications Commission, the Schools and Libraries Corporation projects that through April 28 schools and libraries have requested E-rate discounts worth a total of $2.02 billion for the 1998 Funding Year. FCC rules cap the total amount of E-rate funds available each year at $2.25 billion. "There is a 95% confidence level," according to SLC CEO Ira Fishman, "that the projection of total requests is within 5% of the actual total requests in the more than 30,000 applications that have been received." The SLC's projection is based on what Fishman describes as a "statistically valid sampling.".
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Published April 30, 1998. Preserved as originally written. E-rate rules have changed since; for current guidance see Services or talk to a Guide.