Nebraska ESUCC Adopts Procurement Tools for 250 Districts

  • By Mike Hohenbrink
  • 08/13/12

The Nebraska Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council (ESUCC) will implement a new procurement tool for its K-12 Cooperative Purchasing Program in an effort to improve management and generate savings across 17 educational service units (ESU) within the state.

The move will affect procurement at approximately 250 K-12 public school districts in the state that work together to obtain goods and services more cheaply than they could individually.

As part of a seven-year agreement between ESUCC and ESM Solutions, the districts will use the company's easyPurchase Enterprise and easySourcing, both of which are delivered via a software-as-a-service model.

"This strategic partnership will allow the ESUs to consolidate statewide purchasing needs, implement additional purchasing controls, and will provide scalability and access to all Nebraska schools," said Matt Blomstedt, the executive director of the Nebraska Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council.

"We selected ESM Solutions as our partner for this effort because of ease-of-use and their experience in K-12," said Kip Schneider, director of the Nebraska ESU Cooperative Purchasing group.

ESM Solutions has previously worked with a number of both private sector businesses, government bodies, and education providers for procurement. More information is available at esmsolutions.com.

Featured

  • semi-transparent AI brain with circuit elements under a microscope

    AI 'Microscope' Reveals the Hidden Mechanics of LLM Thought

    Anthropic has introduced new research tools designed to provide a rare glimpse into the hidden reasoning processes of advanced language models — like a "microscope" for AI.

  • digital illustration of Estonia with glowing neural network-like connections spreading across the map

    Estonia to Roll Out ChatGPT Edu for all Secondary Schools

    In a nationwide artificial intelligence program dubbed "AI Leap 2025," the country of Estonia plans to provide free access to leading AI applications for all secondary school students and teachers. The initiative will launch with a rollout of ChatGPT Edu to 20,000 high school students in grades 10-11 and their 3,000 teachers, beginning Sept. 1.

  • DreamBox Math

    Discovery Education Announces Accessibility Enhancements for DreamBox Math

    Discovery Education has updated DreamBox Math, an online math program for K–8 students to supplement core instruction, to improve accessibility for K–5 students, according to a news release. DreamBox Math provides personalized instruction by adapting to individual learners’ responses and providing an engaging, dynamic learning environment.

  • teenager interacts with a chatbot on a computer screen

    Character.AI Rolls Out New Parental Insights Feature Amid Safety Concerns

    Chatbot platform Character.AI has introduced a new Parental Insights feature aimed at giving parents a window into their children's activity on the platform. The feature allows users under 18 to share a weekly report of their chatbot interactions directly with a parent's e-mail address.