FCC Report Could Mark Crucial Step To Protecting A Program For School and Library Internet Access

There is a strong link between high-speed broadband internet access and modern education. Students use internet-enabled devices for homework, and teachers use internet-enabled devices to instruct their students. This need for broadband access has in turn increased the needs of schools and libraries to build and maintain strong broadband and Wi-Fi connections.

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau recently released a report with findings that bring crucial support for the funding of E-Rate, a program specifically designed to help support high-speed broadband adoption and Wi-Fi connectivity at unconnected schools and libraries across the country. The E-Rate program provides funding to help eligible schools and libraries obtain affordable broadband and Wi-Fi services.

This report marks an important step toward the preservation of the program as it currently exists—this is particularly encouraging (for now), as prior moves by the FCC suggested potentially curtailing the E-Rate program. Schools and libraries’ participation in the program has skyrocketed since the program was modernized five years ago, and institutions are using their allocated funding at high rates. The 2014 modernization made changes to focus spending on building robust Wi-Fi networks in schools and libraries, broadly improving high-speed broadband access to learning institutions, and simplifying the funding mechanism to make the program more cost-effective. These findings underscore other reports that show how crucial E-Rate has been to bridging the digital divide.

An estimated 70 percent of teachers in the U.S. assign homework that requires internet access to complete. However, 15 percent of households with school-aged children do not have high-speed broadband access at home, and 35 percent of school-age children in households making less than $30,000 a year have no access to high-speed broadband at home. The ability to use Wi-Fi at school or a local library to complete homework makes a vital difference for these students.

Strong Wi-Fi networks are important not just for homework purposes, but for connected learning as well. According to a teacher survey of Alexandria City Public Schools in Virginia conducted by New America, 80 percent of teachers said that two of the most common uses for internet-enabled devices (Chromebooks, iPads, and desktop computers) are to vary daily lessons and to curate learning experiences to each student. A significant number of teachers (75 percent) noted that these devices enable the teachers to conduct more self-directed learning where students can use devices to access lessons online and engage in independent practice.

It is hard to overstate the success of the modernized E-Rate program. According to the nonprofit EducationSuperHighway, 98 percent of school districts are now offering 100 kilobits per second speeds for each student, meeting the goal set by the FCC. That figure is up significantly from 2013—30 percent—and in that time, 40.7 million more students have broadband access at school that’s required for digital learning.

In the February report, the FCC acknowledged the success of E-Rate, and made a crucial first move in protecting a key part of its budget, despite prior moves that suggested the agency might undermine the program’s funding.

At the core of the issue is the program’s funding for schools and libraries to build “internal connections,” which generally refers to the creation and management of Wi-Fi, known as “category two” funding. Before the 2014 modernization order, category two funding was provided through the “Two-in-Five Rule,” which meant each school or library that sought funding for internal connections (i.e., Wi-Fi) could only receive that support every two out of five years. The FCC replaced this mechanism, and now the budget provides applicants seeking internal connection funding for all five years.

The category two budget is particularly important, as it enables institutions to efficiently and effectively spread their broadband access around the entire school or library. As about 200 school and district leaders and over 50 education organizations argued in a filing with the FCC defending the category two budget, reliable Wi-Fi is “vital for providing all students with a quality education to prepare them for today’s modern economy.”

The FCC, in its report, found that libraries and schools in particular participate in E-Rate at high rates, and that the current budget mechanism is a “clear improvement” over the old Two-in-Five Rule. As the FCC concludes, “under the category two budget approach, greater funding is available for internal connections, distributed to more applicants, in a more equitable and predictable manner, giving applicants more flexibility to determine how best to upgrade their systems.”

E-Rate’s current budget is “likely sufficient for school districts,” the FCC concludes, adding that school districts are likely to seek funding for most or all of the schools in their district and use “the majority of their funding over multiple years.”

The change in the category two budget has resulted in a massive increase in the number participating schools and libraries in E-Rate. Since FY 2015, the average number of schools receiving category two funding (or pending requests) is now up to about 45,000 per year, which marks a 525 percent increase from the time period of FY 2008 and FY 2012. Libraries experienced a 865 percent increase in the number of entities receiving category two commitments or pending requests in the same time period, and is now at about 2,700 per year.

Source: FCC.

These findings from the FCC showing how schools and libraries are using their funding at high rates—and that participation rates have soared, are essential, as it makes it extremely difficult for the FCC commissioners to pass any order that would reduce the budget, or make cuts to this program.

In fact, the only area in the report that suggests further review from the commissioners is a possible increase in the funding floor for rural libraries and entities, which the FCC found are least likely to participate and generally only use a small piece of their budgets. The report recommends taking a look at the funding floor and reviewing whether insufficient funding is deterring these rural entities from participating in the program.

Given the importance of broadband access (and Wi-Fi networks in particular) to bridging the digital divide, the FCC’s latest E-Rate report from the Wireline Competition Bureau is an encouraging step toward protecting the program’s budget and effectiveness. Hopefully, FCC commissioners will take the next step and continue to support this vital program.

Source: FCC.