E-rate/Schools and Libraries Program

As the Covid-19 outbreak pushes almost all daily functions online, libraries, schools, and Internet service providers (ISPs) are finding themselves on the front lines of responding to their communities’ connectivity needs — especially those of students. Nationwide, these broadband first responders are working rapidly to open and deploy public Wi-Fi hotspots that families can access from the safety of their parked cars.

School districts are exploring ways to keep their homebound pupils connected to the classroom, even though many students don't have the internet service or devices they need to do assignments. Public-private partnerships are playing a central role. School districts don't have the budgets to pay for service or provide devices to families, so they're relying on nonprofits and private companies to fill the gaps.

America came face to face with the festering problem of digital inequality when most of the country responded to the coronavirus pandemic by shutting elementary and high schools that serve more than 50 million children.

As the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads, the nation’s K-12 schools and colleges have been forced to weigh health recommendations against the needs of students, many of whom are caught in the digital divide separating those who have Internet access and those who do not. About 15% of US households with school-age children lack high-speed Internet access, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2015 Census Bureau data.

Telecommunication Internet service providers have provided the Federal Communications Commission with a laundry list of coronavirus-related temporary deregulation, including waiving deadlines, suspending rules, and providing more funding, all to address the teleworking and telemedicine and distance-learning load of a homebound workforce and student population. In its letter to the FCC, USTeecom conceded it could be costly and said they would press Congress to appropriate the money. 

I welcome Congress’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a much-needed economic stimulus program that will help workers, consumers, health care providers, and businesses across America. It is a time for action, and the Federal Communications Commission must do more to advance its own “connectivity stimulus.” The coming weeks will lay bare the already cruel reality of the digital divide: tens of millions of Americans cannot access or cannot afford the broadband connections they need to telework, access medical information, and help young people learn when school is closed.

As schools across the country move toward virtual learning as they shut down their buildings amid the coronavirus emergency, it has highlighted the digital divide that exists between students who have readily available internet access and those who do not. The Federal Communications Commission has announced a number of initiatives to help more people get connected to the internet in the wake of the coronavirus emergency. But some experts, lawmakers, and members of the agency believe it can do more.

Democratic Reps' coronavirus response plan unveiled March 23 would direct funding to pay for Wi-Fi hotspots for students and bar broadband providers from imposing data caps during the crisis. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced the legislation after the Senate failed to move its own stimulus measure forward. The House's $2.5 trillion "Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act" includes several provisions related to tech and telecommunication issues for the duration of the national emergency, including:

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau reminds schools and libraries that are closed due to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak that they are permitted to allow the general public to use E-Rate-supported Wi-Fi networks while on the school’s campus or library property.

A call to Congress to allocate up to $100 billion in subsidies, rebates and tax relief targeted toward broadband that would benefit people, not just companies. The money would fund a mix of emergency aid to get and keep people connected during the coming weeks of quarantine and increased reliance on internet access, along with broadband-affordability support for the coming months and years as the economy begins to recover from the effects of the pandemic.