The FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps low-income families pay for home Internet services, will end without action from Congress. The program, known as ACP, will stop enrolling new applicants on February 7 and funds for all participants will run out in May. This has huge implications for school connectivity and the digital divide, as the program helps nearly 23 million households gain internet access.
In spite of the Dire state of the ACPJohn Harrington, chief executive of Funds for Learning, says there is potential to improve school funding in the future.
“One of the shortcomings of the ACP has been the fact that it still depends on families requesting it,” he says. “It certainly helped reduce or reduce the number of students who are not connected, but there is still a certain percentage of students who when they return home, they are not connected.”
Instead of funding ACP, many of the school stakeholders Harrington speaks to are focused on encouraging the FCC to expand eligibility for E-Rate funding. E-Rate is an FCC program that makes Internet access more affordable for schools and libraries, but it currently cannot be used to provide wireless hotspots for students to take home.
Affordable Connectivity Program: Best Case Scenario
The FCC has proposed a rule change for E-Rate that would allow Wi-Fi access points to qualify for financing. If enacted, it could be a better means for schools to ensure Internet access for students than existing ACP programs, which require individual households to apply, something that is not always feasible for all students' families. . Expanding E-Rate eligibility to the home would prevent this.
“That would be a game-changer for schools and libraries because then we would put them in the driver's seat to put those connections in the hands of students and library users,” Harrington says. “They don't have to urge parents to apply. They don't have to try to get community support or run awareness campaigns. “They can literally get the Wi-Fi hotspots they need for the students who need them.”
He adds: “Another significant advantage of this is that schools can also manage things like cybersecurity filtering for that device that is connected to the student's networks, so they have a lot more control.”
The worst case
Harrington emphasizes that the best-case scenario described above may not happen. Instead, E-Rate funding may not be expanded and the ACP could lose funding.
“That's the real nightmare scenario,” Harrington says. “We have all these devices in the hands of all these students, which is fantastic. We're really seeing how these learning management systems and content systems and all of this have really come together to provide personalized learning, all of these opportunities, and now we're approaching this precipice.”
In addition to these concerns, ACP funding has many applications beyond its use by students who would not be covered by E-Rate. “It doesn't address the overall need for connectivity,” Harrington says. She points out that not every household has a student and people still need Internet access for many aspects of modern life, from applying for jobs to telehealth.
Reasons for optimism
E-Rate funding was recently updated to include providing Wi-Fi access to schools. “That's a big step forward,” he says, which makes him optimistic that the FCC will be willing to update E-Rate. Additionally, the FCC can change E-Rate without the need for increasingly elusive bipartisan political support and possibly without allocating more funds.
“The program has about $1 billion in unrequested available spending each year. So there is money available. And an act of Congress is not required to make those funds available, which is why I have my hopes pinned on this solution,” he says. “The FCC is well positioned to help meet this need in a way that best serves the community.”
