The e-rate program, passed by Congress in 1996, required the FCC to determine how to spend what amounted to more than $2 billion a year in order to provide internet access to classrooms. In reading about various agencies now mandated to spend money under the stimulus, I thought it might be useful to list some of the lessons learned by the FCC.

First, involve as many stakeholders in the process as possible and as soon as possible. Don't think of the answer and then sell it; think of the questions and ask them. That means holding meetings, conference calls, convention-style gatherings. There's no shame in asking what to do; there's only regret to be had from not asking.

Second,

use the web. Post all plans and thoughts on the net, and collect as much detailed feedback as possible.

Third, wherever it might be workable, create matching grants. For example, if the Education Department is going to make grant to school districts for construction projects, then require some matching effort -- whether it is monetary or a contribution of time and materials or participation by parents. Almost any form of matching effort is better than nothing, because the match ties the recipient to the project, assures that the project is desired, and helps prioritize recipients by putting first those who most want the help.

Fourth, plan the accounting upfront. Any grant or spending program carries with it the possibility of waste, fraud and abuse. We are spending taxpayers' money and taxpayers have a right to know that their resources are being husbanded. Plain, open, transparent accounting -- again on the web -- will help assure that this principle is being followed.

Fifth, use early tests to get the spending right. Even next week is not too soon for some small model of what might be implemented at scale later.

Sixth, constituents need to be continually engaged. Use advisory boards, outside consultants, commissions, trade associations, and state and local governments to provide constant review, advice, and participation on a say-as-you-go basis: that is, don't just design the spending and then assume it is all working as designed.

Seventh, map everything out. There was no way the interstate highway system was built without a map and there's no way that all this spending can be timely and targeted without an overall map. For example, roads and broadband and schools all will receive stimulus money; but in some places all that money will be spent in the same location.So have a map that shows where all the spending goes. In the age of Google maps this is not too hard; indeed it is easy. It is, by the way, a useful role for the Department of Commerce.

Eighth, use standard commercial contracts as much as possible. Don't negotiate everything on a one-off basis.

Ninth, learn collectively. All the agencies and departments can and should share their practices across different programs. They will have more in common than they think.

Tenth, not everything needs to be done by current agency staff. Under virtually every program, there is authority to create public-private corporations or delegated expert agencies, even those made out of whole cloth, to expend monies. Such short-term expediting measures can be used to staff up quickly and then close down staff when the spending is over. Under the e-rate for example the FCC created a public corporation instead of administering the program with its own staff, expert in many respects but not in the business of buying internet access for schools.

Eleventh, what's done is done. The stimulus is law. Follow it. But don't forget that if something doesn't work it's important to report that to Congress right away, and not keep silent.

Twelfth, there will be mistakes. Get over them. Keep on going, but learn as you go, by establishing critical review procedures from the outset.

It is vitally important to the economy that the stimulus work well. But it is also critically important to Americans that this Administration show that Katrina and the Iraq occupation are not markers of our inability to get jobs done that need doing. This Administration must meet and surely wants to meet the test of proving to Americans that we are a can-do country. In the case of the e-rate, the job was done and done well. More than 90% of classrooms and children in the United States got access to the Internet in the very early days of that phenomenon. Libraries too all across the country became Internet access centers. As a result far more children have Internet learning experiences than actually have access in their homes. We have distributed this new technology to the current generation faster than any other technology ever penetrated the world of education. We are, after all, a can-do country, when we put out minds to our work and are smart about what we do.