Alexandria,
Va. (July 19, 2013) – The National School Boards Association (NSBA)
applauds recent initiatives to strengthen the E-Rate program, including
the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) approved today by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC).
The
NPRM represents the most comprehensive call for modernization of the
School and Libraries Universal Service Support mechanism (E-Rate)
program since it was enacted in 1996, and calls for comments on all
aspects of the program, including funding and resources, equitable
distribution of funds, shifting prioritizes to increase access to high
speed Broadband, increasing cost effectiveness and transparency, and
streamlining administration of the program.
The
NPRM caps off a week that included a hearing on E-Rate modernization in
the Senate Commerce Committee, and a plan proposed by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai.
“E-Rate
is a vital source of assistance for high-need schools in maintaining
Internet connectivity, enhancing digital learning opportunities and
helping school districts set and meet 21st Century technology goals,”
said NSBA Executive Director Thomas J. Gentzel. “NSBA welcomes this
opportunity to energize the process of updating E-Rate and meeting the
needs of students and schools. To assure that E-Rate is successful, it
is important to provide adequate resources to schools. Requests for
assistance by high need schools and libraries are more than double the
current resources in the E-rate program.”
Gentzel
continued, “NSBA supports efforts to ensure efficient operation and
integrity of E-Rate, increase the quality and speed of connectivity in
our nation’s schools, and address the technology gaps that remain.”
The
Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, commonly
known as E-Rate, is administered by the Universal Service Administrative
Company (USAC) under the direction of the FCC, and provides discounts
to assist most schools and libraries in the U.S. to obtain affordable
telecommunications and Internet access. Since 1998, the first year of
E-Rate, the percent of public school instructional classrooms with
Internet access has climbed from 51 percent to 94 percent, helped to a
great extent by E-Rate.
In
Funding Year 2012, E-Rate provided $2.2 billion in discounts for
Internet access, telecommunications, internal connections and basic
maintenance to more than 36,000 high-need school, school district,
library and consortia applicants.
In June 2013, NSBA praised President Barack Obama’s new initiative, ConnectED, to connect
99 percent of America’s students to the Internet through high-speed
broadband and high-speed wireless within 5 years. Obama’s plan called on
the FCC to modernize and leverage its existing E-Rate program to meet
that goal and to get Internet connectivity and educational technology
into classrooms, and into the hands of teachers trained on its
advantages.
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NSBA’s Issue Brief on E-rate: http://www.nsba.org/Advocacy/Key-Issues/EducationTechnologyERate/Issue-Brief-Schools-and-Libraries-Program-of-the-Universal-Service-Fund-E-Rate.pdf
Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a
not-for-profit organization representing state associations of school
boards and their more than 90,000 local school board members throughout
the U.S. Working with and through our state associations, NSBA advocates
for equity and excellence in public education through school board
leadership. www.nsba.org