E-rate/Schools and Libraries Program

To provide relief to E-Rate program participants affected by this unprecedented national pandemic, the FCC will extend the service implementation deadline to September 30, 2023 for certain funding year 2020 and 2021 applicants with non-recurring service deadlines that expire on September 30, 2022. In providing this relief, the FCC seeks to prevent schools and libraries from losing their funding due to circumstances out of their control, alleviate administrative burdens, and assist schools and libraries by giving them additional time to receive the equipment and services they need to serve t

At the annual National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) conference in Denver, Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) highlighted the progress Congress has made to expand access to high-speed, affordable broadband and close the digital divide. In 2021, Sen. Bennet introduced the bipartisan Broadband Reform and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy (BRIDGE) Act with Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Angus King (I-MA), which was incorporated into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to make the single largest investment in broadband in history.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced that there is sufficient funding available to fully meet the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC) estimated demand for category one and two requests for E-Rate supported services for funding year 2022. USAC estimates the total demand for funding year 2022 will be $3.15 billion, which includes $1.64 billion for category one services and $1.51 billion for category two services.

Over the past two years, school districts have sent kids home with laptops and tablets in unprecedented numbers. Thousands of these devices and the internet connections that power them have been purchased through two federal subsidy programs overseen by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) known as E-Rate and the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF).  Giving students these devices has led to a dramatic increase in screen time and made it more difficult for parents to protect their children from exposure to objectively harmful online content.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on the proposed eligible services list (ESL) for the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism (more commonly known as the E-Rate program) for funding year 2023. The FCC has included its proposed eligible services list here and invites stakeholders to comment.

When it comes to broadband, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is about more than money. For example, Congress also directed the Federal Communications Commission to consider the impact of the law's $65 billion broadband investment on the FCC's existing broadband support programs under the umbrella of the Universal Service Fund (known to wonks as the USF).

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition and New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) released

When ed-tech leaders from 21 states met with lawmakers to discuss 2022 policy priorities at EdTech Advocacy Day in Washington (DC), they coalesced around the idea of modernizing federal E-rate funding for new expenses. The May 12 event brought together officials from the US Department of Education, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.

Benton applauds Chairwoman Rosenworcel and this critical effort to support a continuum of connectivity for America's schoolchildren. As far back as 2016, approximately 3 percent of the schools had begun to offer Wi-Fi on school buses, and nearly 4 percent were planning to do so in the near future. The reasoning is clear: school buses can be an extension of the school and facilitate online study. The FCC should seize this opportunity to turn school buses into rolling study halls.