New E-Rate Toolkit Helps School Systems Meet Connectivity Needs With Fiber

A new toolkit will give school system leaders the guidance to leverage the expanded fiber connectivity opportunities in the federal E-rate program. Produced by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, Maximizing K-12 Fiber Connectivity Through E-Rate: An Overview comes at a time when schools are feeling a bandwidth crunch. A recent CoSN survey revealed that 68 percent of district technology officers believe their school systems do not have the bandwidth to meet their district’s connectivity demands in the next 18 months. K-12 broadband demands, meanwhile, are growing at an annual rate of more than 50 percent. The toolkit comprises three parts:

Part One, which provides an overview of the E-rate program and the types of fiber eligible through the program. Through case studies, it also shares how three school systems managed their fiber connectivity challenges.
Part Two, which describes important considerations for schools to assess their options. It also includes an additional case study that details how a school district’s E-rate reimbursement for a fiber “self-build” could support wider fiber build-out.
Part Three, which issues a call to action for school systems to begin taking measurable steps toward deciding on and making effective use of today’s fiber connectivity options.

“Communities across the nation need world-class Internet access. The expanded options for fiber network construction allowed under E-rate make it particularly important for school, municipal and county leaders to coordinate with one another,” said David Talbot, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and co-author of the toolkit.