June 30, 2026
Written by Noelle Ellerson Ng, Associate Executive Director for Advocacy & Governance
The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to review its E-Rate program, which may risk undercutting the agency's mission to equip children with the technological tools they need in the modern age.
AESA is proud to collaborate with AASA, ASBO and NREA as part of our advocacy to support and protect the E-Rate program. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr frames his proposal as a review of the program when, in reality, explores sweeping changes that would fundamentally reshape—or even dismantle—this critical source of connectivity for the nation’s schools and libraries. As written in a previous AESA update:
"The NPRM includes a handful of far-reaching, high-stakes proposals including: sunsetting of the program; restricting funding to rural schools, excluding PreK/Head Start, and penalizing or removing funding for CIPA compliance issues. The proposal includes questions on whether to requirements like screen time limits, expanded filtering (including social media bans), and mandatory digital literacy courses. The NPRM also explores a potential effort to redistribute funding in ways that could divide the education community, particularly by shifting resources away from non-rural districts. While expanding support for rural schools is an important goal, it should not come at the expense of other communities that also depend on E-Rate to meet basic connectivity needs. These proposals reflect a notable shift away from the FCC’s traditional focus on connectivity and into areas of education policy and practice that have long been governed at the state and local level."
NEXT STEPS
We were able to extend the comment and reply period for the NPRM. That means your advocacy now is more important than ever in helping the FCC and Congress understand how short-sighted and damaging these changes will be for schools. Here’s what you can do:
- Save Our E-Rate: Our collaborating partners, AASA, co-chairs the Education and Libraries Network Coalition (EdLiNC) who, along with the Schools Health Library Broadband (SHLB) coalition, is leading the effort to protect E-Rate. Take a moment before the end of July to submit a letter to your full Congressional delegation highlighting the proposed changes, our opposition, and why E-Rate matters to your district.
- File Comments with the FCC: In August, we will be launching a large scale call to action with step-by-step instructions for how to weigh-in directly with the FCC.
We'll continue to keep you updated on any further developments.