Bulletins

Democratic policy makers said Nov. 5 that more must be done to ensure universal access to high-speed broadband Internet access.

There is widespread agreement that the federal E-rate program must be overhauled to focus on expanding K-12 access to high-speed broadband connections. But an intense debate is underway about the nuts and bolts of how best to satisfy schools' huge appetite for more bandwidth and the demands for mobile devices for learning—all without leaving poor and rural districts behind.

The initial deadline for public comment on the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to overhaul the federal E-rate program recently passed, and roughly 800 educators, libraries, advocates, representatives from the telecommunications industry, and others have weighed in.

President Obama liked the idea laid out in a memo from his staff: an ambitious plan to expand high-speed Internet access in schools that would allow students to use digital notebooks and teachers to customize lessons like never before. Better yet, the president would not need Congress to approve it.

The lone Republican on the Federal Communications Commission has unveiled a proposal to make the E-rate program more transparent and less bureaucratic, while also requiring schools to chip in one dollar for every three dollars they receive through the program.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — President Obama visited an innovative middle school in central North Carolina on Thursday to demonstrate the Internet-based education programs that he is proposing to make available nationwide.

Driven by new digital technologies, the future of learning is increasingly interactive, individualized, and full of real-world experiences and information. Unfortunately,the average school has about the same connectivity as the average American home, but serves 200 times as many users, and fewer than 20 percent of educators say their school’s internet connection meets their teaching needs. And our teachers do not get enough training and support to integrate technology in their classroom and lessons, despite the fundamental and increasing importance of those skills.

WASHINGTON, DC — President Obama today unveiled a bold, new initiative called ConnectED to connect 99 percent of America’s students to the internet through high-speed broadband and high-speed wireless within 5 years, calling on the FCC to modernize and leverage its existing E-Rate program to meet that goal. The President also directed the federal government to make better use of existing funds to get Internet connectivity and educational technology into classrooms, and into the hands of teachers trained on its advantages. And he called on businesses, states, districts, schools and communities to support this vision. This ambitious initiative does not require Congressional action.

Pursuant to section 54.709(a)(3) of the Commission’s rules, on May 2, 2013, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submitted projections of demand and administrative expenses for the federal universal service fund for the third quarter of 2013. According to USAC's projections, $450 million in unused funds from previous funding years is available to carry forward to increase disbursements to schools and libraries via the E-rate program, more formally known as the schools and libraries universal service program.3 Section 54.507(a)(3) of the Commission’s rules states that "[a]ll funds collected that are unused shall be carried forward into subsequent funding years for use in the [Erate program] in accordance with the public interest and notwithstanding the annual cap."

The purpose of this letter is to notify the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) that the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) approves the Schools and Libraries Funding Year (FY) 2013 Program Integrity Assurance (PTA) FCC Form 471 Review Procedures, dated November 13, 2012, subject to the edits we have previously discussed with your staff.