E-Rate Gets Rural Schools Online. Will It Survive President Trump's FCC?

Earlier in 2017, AZ officials announced a plan they say could harness more than $100 million in federal funds to bring broadband internet connections to schools and libraries across the state. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, appointed in January to head the agency by President Trump, has generally spoken in favor of the E-Rate system.“Regarding E-rate, Chairman Pai strongly supports the program,” an FCC spokesman wrote.

But the FCC retracted the largely favorable January report shortly after Pai’s appointment, and it remains to be seen whether he will seek to make changes to the E-Rate rules approved under his Democratic predecessor, and what effects that may have on the program. Whether E-Rate will continue in its current form under the Trump administration and the Republican-led FCC is still an open question. Some conservatives have spoken out against the E-Rate program altogether; a 2015 set of budget recommendations from the conservative Heritage Foundation advocated phasing out the program.