Press Release

TCEA Encourages Texas School Districts to Apply for $10 Million in Technology Lending Grants

by TCEA | Dec 13, 2017 | Press Release

Austin, Texas: On December 12th, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) opened its Request for Applications for Technology Lending Grants. These grants, established by Texas Education Code §32.301, are the implementation of a bill passed during the 85th Session of the Texas Legislature. House Bill 3536, authored by Representative Donna Howard and Senator Larry Taylor, was a strong legislative priority for TCEA and one we both championed and advocated for during the session.

The Technology Lending Grants made possible by this bill provide $10 million in funding for districts to purchase personal, portable wireless devices such as laptops, tablets, or other technologies that can provide students access to digital materials to meet school objectives while at home.

“The purpose of the grants is to help school districts ensure that all their students have access to digital content and tools at home to improve the homework gap,” says TCEA Director of Governmental Relations, Jennifer Bergland. “Our tech directors have made it clear that if we solve the problem of broadband access at school but not at home, then we haven’t solved the problem.”

There will be approximately 144 grants awarded, ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 each. For information about applying for one of these grants, please see the TEA Request for Applications here: http://ly.tcea.org/teagrant. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, February 6, 2018. For schools looking for help with the grant process, TCEA will be offering a free webinar with tricks and tips for writing and submitting grants on January 9 at 2 p.m. The webinar is open to anyone. Register here: https://tcea.org/event/grant-writing-tips-tricks/

TCEA is a nonprofit, member-based organization that has supported the use of technology in education for the last 37 years. Our primary focus is on integrating technology into the PreK-16 environment and providing our members with cutting-edge knowledge and resources through conferences, workshops, online and print publications, and collaborations with higher education and business.