Schools Set to Adjust to Revamped E-Rate Policies

The Federal Communications Commission’s recent makeover of the E-rate program is billed as a step toward transforming the fund from one focused on supporting 1990s-era telecommunication tools to one that accommodates 21st-century technologies.

Now, school officials are trying to gauge what the new policies will mean for teachers, students, and their districts’ bottom lines. If the order works as planned, the application process for funding will become smoother, and the prices schools and libraries pay for services will become more transparent.

like the 16,000-student Red Clay Consolidated School District, in Delaware, are sifting through the order and evaluating where their E-rate funding will rise and fall as a result of FCC’s change of policy.