Reactions to the FCC's New E-Rate Proceeding

“Today’s FCC vote is a deeply troubling step toward weakening E-Rate, a universal program that has connected millions of students, teachers, schools, and libraries—in urban and rural communities alike—to the internet for 30 years,” said Sen Ed Markey (D-MA). “This rulemaking goes far beyond reviewing the impact of screen time on students and undermines educational equality, harms our economic competitiveness, and threatens to reverse three decades of settled law. The FCC should be focused on strengthening E-Rate and closing the digital divide, not finding new excuses to disconnect the children who need it the most. I will continue fighting to protect this landmark program and ensure every student can succeed.”

"Instead of asking whether E-Rate should be terminated, the FCC should be asking how to make it stronger. The Commission is treating the program's success as a reason to walk away, when it is exactly the reason to stay the course. Today, the FCC took the damaging step towards either ending E-Rate or shrinking it to only rural areas, despite lacking the authority to do so and despite a clear congressional mandate to bring universal service to every community," said Joey Wender, Executive Director of the SHLB Coalition.

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Executive Director Revati Prasad said, “The FCC’s Schools and Libraries Program is widely recognized as the most successful federal initiative to close the digital divide. E-Rate transformed internet access for over 100,000 schools and 11,000 libraries nationwide, connecting millions of students and library patrons to educational opportunities, government services, information, healthcare, and much more. At a time when our economy and society are increasingly moving online, it is unfathomable that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr would suggest terminating or scaling back a program that nearly every community in the U.S. relies upon. We cannot risk disconnecting our children and our communities from the future.”

"FCC Chair Carr continues to show a pattern seizing politically motivated opportunities to cast doubt on long-standing, successful agency efforts, including core Universal Service Fund programs like E-Rate and Lifeline. Congress should be concerned that this FCC is getting ahead of its efforts to modernize USF programs by creating misleading narratives and distorting the debate," said Alisa Valentin, Broadband Policy Director at Public Knowledge. “It is troubling to see that this NPRM includes questions about the E-Rate program’s existence alongside questions about if the program should be limited to support rural communities only. This is another effort by this FCC to play up the politics of deservingness instead of ensuring all communities, regardless of geography, can experience the benefits of affordable, reliable broadband.”

American Library Association President Sam Helmick said, "A fast, reliable internet connection is as necessary for library workers and patrons, educators and students as it is for FCC regulators, but it's not cheap to maintain. Withholding broadband access from learning institutions that rely on it to serve their communities and fulfill their missions is not the answer to the alarming increase in screen time for kids or adults. There is no justification for pulling the plug on E-Rate. E-Rate continues to fulfill the congressional mandate that established it 30 years ago: 'providing affordable access to telecommunications services for all eligible schools and libraries, particularly those in rural and economically disadvantaged areas.' As long as there are Americans who cannot afford or don't have access to a high-speed broadband connection, E-Rate should continue. ALA is rallying the library community to speak clearly and collectively in defense of E‑Rate and the access it provides.”