(

a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the State Department of Education, in conjunction with county superintendents of schools and others from the educational community, establish telecommunication standards that will support the efficient sharing of school business and administrative information. These standards shall allow schools, school districts, county superintendents of schools, and the department to establish interactive access to this information, reduce the reporting requirements of local educational agencies, and assist local educational agencies in carrying out their financial and administrative responsibilities in a more effective manner. (

b) In addition to establishing telecommunication standards, it is the further intent of the Legislature that standardized financial information and student information being developed pursuant to

Section 42103.3 and subdivision (

k) of

Section shall be among the initial information that is shared when telecommunication links are established. (

c) It is also the intent of the Legislature that funding be made available to encourage school districts and county superintendents of schools to connect existing networks to the telecommunication highway. The Legislature also intends that the provisions of this

section be accomplished without requiring replacement of current hardware and software at the local level and that the aforementioned standards be developed and implemented without mandating specified proprietary hardware or software purchases.