E-Rate

Citing statutory authority and oversight concerns, the Federal Communications Commission may roll back COVID-era expansions to the E-rate program that funded take-home Wi-Fi hot spots and Wi-Fi on school buses.

The high court preserved the Universal Service Fund, which finds its beginnings in the 1934 Communications Act. It includes E-rate, and is intended to ensure effective telecommunications across America.

Democrat Geoffrey Starks will depart the FCC within the next month, leaving the agency with a 2-1 Republican majority. Whether the GOP members will move to reverse past E-rate expansions remains to be seen.

Experts at the Consortium for School Networking’s annual conference in Seattle urged K-12 leaders to contact the FCC and Congress and voice their support for the E-rate program that funds school broadband.

A conservative-leaning FCC, coupled with legal and congressional challenges, have created uncertainty around the E-rate program that funds school broadband. Experts say districts will need local funding and community partnerships to fill the gap.

Plus, E-rate program funding is at risk, broadband legislation has been introduced, Massachusetts debuts connectivity initiative, materials from the Office of Educational Technology are once again available, and more.

A panel at the Future of Education Technology Conference in Orlando last week offered tips on planning for the future of broadband, while cautioning attendees that aspects of the E-rate program are in political jeopardy.

The application window for the Federal Communications Commission's cybersecurity pilot program saw requests from schools and libraries in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

Plus, more states have been awarded federal funding from the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, and the city of Boulder, Colo., has announced a new partnership to expand community broadband.

Policy experts at the California IT in Education conference last week said Republicans in control of Congress and the Federal Communications Commission may seek to revoke recent E-rate program expansions.

Great Bend Unified School District 428 in Kansas plans to use E-rate funds to upgrade the district's Internet bandwidth and put Wi-Fi on school buses. It also intends to apply for the FCC's new cybersecurity program.

More than 2,500 applicants applied for funding through the Federal Communications Commission’s three-year Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program, which will fund expenses like firewalls and endpoint detection.

Plus, Massachusetts is investing in digital skills training; a partnership in Scranton, Pa., aims to create a universal network; the Federal Communications Commission looks to drive tribal participation in E-rate; and more.

The three-year $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program opens its application window this fall. The near-term goal is to secure schools most in need, but long-term it will help nationwide.

The filing period to apply to join the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program will begin in mid-September, the Federal Communications Commission has announced. Applicants will have about six weeks to submit.

Weeks after a court ruling in July found the FCC's E-rate program unconstitutional, some legal experts say strong bipartisan support for E-rate and the other universal service programs could ensure their survival.

This week’s decision from the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals calls the Universal Service Fund unconstitutional. The nearly 30-year-old fund uses telecommunications fees to pay for the FCC’s E-rate program.

The Federal Communications Commission voted July 18 to allow funding for Wi-Fi hot spots under the E-rate program. Schools can loan these hot spots to students who lack Internet access at home.