Community Anchor Institutions

Transparency about edtech products that incorporate AI can help school administrators select systems that will provide them with the functionality they need; ensure that those systems are suited for their contexts; identify potential risks and ways to mitigate them; and push the field at large toward improved development practices, outcomes, equity, and more.

Since June 6, when the Trump NTIA released its BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice (RPN), states have been racing to update their maps of eligible locations, conduct a new “Benefit of the Bargain” (BOTB) round, negotiate with prospective subgrantees, release

The Center for Democracy & Technology’s Hand in Hand: Schools’ Embrace of AI Connected to Increased Risks to Students examines the frequency and variety of artificial intelligence use in educational settings in the 2024-25 school year. CDT finds that teachers and students are using AI tools more than ever before.

Mission Telecom, a nonprofit telecommunications provider and grantmaker dedicated to expanding digital equity, today announced a new offer to help schools and libraries remain whole after losing federal E-Rate funding for Wi-Fi hotspots and school bus connectivity.

The vast majority of states and territories have released their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program final proposals for public comment. Many have closed their feedback periods, wrapped up their plans, and submitted those plans to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for approval. For the few remaining states that received extensions on the deadline to submit final plans, this process is still underway. Here are a few of the states that are in the process of completing their plans.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has continued to alter the educational experiences of teachers, students, and parents during the 2024-25 school year. The frequency and variety of AI uses continues to grow; at the same time, the increased use of AI in educational settings is correlated with heightened risks to students. The following section details the current status of AI use in schools along with four emerging risks associated with this technology, all of which increase the more that a school uses AI:

The Healey-Driscoll administration and Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s (MassTech) Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) launched the Connected & Online Program, a $23 million initiative to close the digital device gap across Massachusetts.

The Federal Communications Commission granted a petition for reconsideration filed by Maurine and Matthew Molak and found that the best reading of section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, (the Communications Act) is that it does not permit funding of off-premises use of Wi-Fi hotspots and the associated wireless Internet services with E-Rate program support. In so finding, the FCC rescinded the rules adopted in July 2024.

In this Declaratory Ruling, the Federal Communications Commission takes the opportunity to better align E-Rate eligibility with section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Communications Act), and clarify that the provision of Wi-Fi, or other similar access point technologies, including the equipment needed to provide such service, on school buses is ineligible for E-Rate funding.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said, "Today’s decision corrects course. It restores the FCC’s commitment to following the law as written and respecting the intent of Congress. Section 254 of the Communications Act is clear: E-Rate funding is meant to enhance access to telecommunications services in classrooms and libraries. A school bus is neither. We cannot simply reinterpret “classrooms” to mean any place where learning might occur. That’s not how statutory interpretation works, and it’s not how responsible policymaking should work either."