Ten years ago Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast Region of the United States and devastated much of Louisiana and Mississippi. While many of us moved on with our lives, the communities that were directly impacted have been slowly rebuilding and trying to put their lives back together.
Many schools were flooded, severely damaged or entirely destroyed. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the FCC issued an Order specifying how USAC would seek to provide aid to the affected schools and libraries. The FCC showed great flexibility in working with these school districts to ensure they were able to effectively utilize E-rate dollars to help put together the necessary infrastructure in the new 21st century classrooms that were either being rebuilt or renovated.
This week President Obama went to New Orleans to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I wanted to take this time and acknowledge the leadership that the Louisiana and Mississippi state E-rate coordinators played in the rebuilding process; as well as the incredible work of Intel Corporation to bring together a coalition of businesses, non-profits and associations to help with that effort.
This is a time to reflect on the progress that has been made and remember the amount of sacrifice that the school administrators and other educators faced throughout this past decade.
