FCC looks at revamping E-Rate program

When Barack Obama last month called for high-speed Internet in all the nation’s classrooms, acting FCC Chair Mignon Clyburn apparently took him seriously. On June 28, she recommended modernizing and enhancing the publicly funded E-Rate program which is funded by a surtax on telephone bills. Clyburn wants to use E-Rate “to close our education system’s bandwidth gap [and provide] our schools and libraries with a path towards affordable access to high-speed broadband.”

In an op-ed in USA Today, Clyburn outlined a three-step plan to improve E-Rate. The FCC must:

• maximize the cost effectiveness of purchases made using E-Rate support.
• consider how best to distribute funding fairly, consider eliminating support for outdated services, and reallocate any savings toward investments in more bandwidth.
• leverage the ongoing massive private investments in networks and ensure that investments in connectivity are the foundation for real positive change in classrooms.

According to Education Week, Clyburn aims to “allow other commissioners, Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Ajit Pai, to review her proposal and make changes to it over the next three weeks. The commission would then vote on the proposal at its meeting on July 19.”

Speed Matters supports Commissioner Clyburn’s attempt to use E-Rate to increase broadband speeds in our schools and libraries.

Obama: Let there be broadband (Speed Matters, Jun. 7, 2013)

FCC takes up Obama's plan for faster Internet in schools (The Hill, Jul. 1, 2013)

3-step plan to speed up student learning: Column (USA Today, Jun. 28, 2013)

FCC Proposal to Modernize E-Rate Program Gathers Momentum (Education Week, Jun. 28, 2013)