Bipartisan, New Democrat Coalition-Led Group Sends Letter to FCC in Support of Modernizing E-Rate Program
New Democrat Coalition Chairman Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Coalition Member Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), as well as Republican Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) led a bipartisan letter to the Federal Communications Commission today asking for the Commission to modernize the E-rate program and help “connect our nation’s schools and libraries to high-speed broadband over the next five years.”
E-rate is a program that helps provide affordable telecommunications services to schools and libraries with high concentrations of students in poverty. While the program has been enormously successful since its inception in 1996 at bringing basic telephone and internet access to classrooms, the program must be updated to reflect 21st century technologies and new trends in digital learning. The bipartisan letter urges the FCC to move forward on E-rate modernization when they meet to vote on it.
The letter is the first step in a broader New Dem initiative that will focus on improving Americans’ digital literacy skills to help ensure that the United States workforce remains competitive as the need for digital skills becomes an increasing requirement for success in the 21st century economy. A recent OECD report, The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) assessed the proficiency of adults aged 16 onwards in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments, and found that 16-24 year olds in the U.S. rank last among OECD countries surveyed in terms of their ability to solve problems using technology.
“Technology holds the promise to transform education and open doors of opportunity for millions of young Americans, which is why we must make digital skill development a top national priority,” a group of New Dems leading the Coalition’s digital literacy efforts said in a statement. “President Obama began the important work of modernizing our nation’s schools by calling on the FCC to connect 99% of America’s students to high-speed broadband and Wi-Fi. We stand with this call, and urge the FCC to find a way to ensure that every American student is prepared for 21st century learning.”
The 2013 EducationSuperHighway National SchoolSpeedTest estimated that 72% of our schools and more than 40 million students nationwide do not have access to the connectivity and equipment they need to gain essential skills for the knowledge economy.
Click here to read a copy of the bipartisan letter.
Click here to read FCC Chairman Wheeler's response to the bipartisan letter.
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