E-rate/Schools and Libraries Program

On March 10, the US House of Representatives passed the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief package that includes more than $7 billion in funding for the E-Rate program to support emergency broadband connectivity and devices for schools and libraries and their students, staff, and patrons.

The latest coronavirus relief bill sets aside $7.6 billion to help students and teachers get online, in an ambitious effort to address the “homework gap.” The funding will allow elementary schools, high schools and libraries to purchase Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, and routers for students, and also fund the Internet service that those devices use.

A Q&A with Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on how she plans to use her new role at the FCC to tackle digital equity issues. "We must start recognizing that for students who don’t have internet access at home, having the school loan out a wireless hot spot is the difference between keeping up in class and falling behind. We can do something to fix this. It’s why we’re in the process of evaluating how we can update the current E-rate program to meet the moment students and families find themselves in," she said. ...

The Senate — following a grueling vote-a-rama on March 5-6 — has finally approved a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill, bringing it one step closer to becoming law. The House is slated to take up the Senate version of the bill shortly and send it to President Joe Biden for his signature. Included in the bill is a provision that establishes a $7.6 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, to be implemented by the Federal Communications Commission, to expand internet connectivity to students and teachers during the pandemic.

On February 12, Sens Roger Wicker (R-MS) and John Thune (R-SD) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel raising concerns about the Universal Service Fund’s (USF) long-term sustainability as a mechanism to close the nation’s digital divide.

Senate Democrats aren’t setting aside quite as much money as their House counterparts for Federal Communications Commission online learning efforts, according to the latest legislative text for the $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package. Although House Democrats had wanted $7.6 billion in FCC funding, the Senate version includes just $7.17 billion. Senators are gearing up for final votes on the bill soon.

Cable broadband operators want the Federal Communications Commission to confine its emergency E-rate Universal Service Fund broadband subsidies, where possible, to existing providers rather than spending on new infrastructure deployments, and to provide a streamlined application process.

Nearly five years after the Boulder Valley (CO) School District asked the Federal Communications Commission to let it use federal funds to help students on the wrong side of the digital divide, the district finally got a response — in a roundabout way. The Boulder Valley district wanted to fix the “homework gap” faced by students who spend the day at school and then head home to no broadband service. In 2013, the district began sharing its internet with a local neighborhood that had none.

A group of K-12 organizations has banded together to urge the Federal Communications Commission to incorporate cybersecurity purchases into the E-rate program. The goal of the 35-page petition is to help school districts protect their networks and data by expanding E-rate in three ways:

I want to focus on one critical aspect of moving through and forward from this difficult time: bringing high-quality, affordable broadband into every home—something that’s at the heart of so many of the economic development priorities you are exploring during 2021’s conference. We can no longer defer the hard work on digital equity and believe that a future group and time will solve this issue.