Lisa Guernsey

Advocates for better and more affordable broadband are relatively pleased with the infrastructure bill's broadband components, even if the new legislation doesn’t go as far as they want.

In the fall and winter of 2020, New America embarked on a snapshot study to gather data on how—or if—people were discovering, accessing, and using their public libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on materials that libraries made available online. Our findings, which include data from a national survey of 2,620 people, highlight the need for more inclusivity, more focus on providing internet access, and more awareness-raising initiatives with local organizations and schools.

One of the first priorities of 2021 should be to enable schools and libraries to use E-Rate to help students and patrons get online from home. To support these extensions is to uphold the program’s founding principles of universal service and access. So what is the hold up? For one, Congress can barely figure out how to pass its annual appropriations bills. Although there is a chance that E-Rate changes could come in the final push for COVID-19 relief legislation, relying on lawmakers typically means waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

If comedian John Oliver can get the importance of network neutrality, then our US Department of Education should too.

New America’s Learning Technologies Project sent a letter to Secretary Arne Duncan urging him to recognize the risks posed to students’ educational opportunities under the new proposal from the Federal Communication Commission.

The proposal would essentially authorize “fast lanes” for online transmission of information, a move away from the approach known as net neutrality. The letter accompanied a series of comments submitted to the FCC on behalf of four education start-up companies: Codecademy, CodeCombat, GeneralAssembly, and OpenCurriculum.