Commissioner Rosenworcel Remarks at Digital Equity Summit 2019

According to the Senate Joint Economic Committee, there are 12 million kids all across the country who lack the internet access they now need for nightly schoolwork.  According to the Associated Press, nearly one in five students nationwide falls into the Homework Gap. We are a nation that finds problems and fixes them. Here are my ideas. First, we need to gather data locally and raise awareness. I think every city and town can build their own local assessments to understand what is behind their Homework Gap. Second, we need to take note of the innovative things that are happening across the country to help address this problem—and then no shame, copy them (Wi-Fi routers on busses, loaning Wi-Fi hot-spots, maps for students as to where they can get free Wi-Fi.)  Finally, the Federal Communications Commission needs to help. The FCC needs to develop better data about where broadband is and is not so communities across the country can build on it to address the Homework Gap. The FCC also needs to help clear more of our skies for Wi-Fi by making airwaves available for unlicensed use.

E-rate: Today, only 28 percent of school districts meet the FCC’s long-term capacity target of 1 Gigabit per thousand students. So we have work to do. We also have work to do to make sure that the changes the FCC made a few years ago continue on their current course. To this end, in the coming days the FCC will release a rulemaking seeking public feedback on the last five-years of E-Rate reforms that helped expand the availability of category two funding for Wi-Fi. This is important, because the FCC will be asking questions about how to continue and improve its approach to budget Wi-Fi funding for schools and libraries. So make your voice heard.