Closing The Homework Gap—New $7B Temporary Program An Important First Step

Congress created the E-rate program more than 20 years ago in order to provide internet connectivity to the nation's libraries and schools, but educators and industry have complained for years that it is inadequate to close the homework gap. Calls for reform intensified during COVID-19, and Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have now created a new $7.17 billion program to specifically address remote connectivity for students and library patrons.

This new program, the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), will provide funding for internet access services and devices like laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots both for elementary and secondary students and for library patrons. Despite the fact that the existing E-rate program has been the principal funding mechanism that most of the country's schools use in providing connectivity to K-12 students, the FCC has historically interpreted the law establishing the E-rate program to prohibit using E-rate funds for