Save Our E-Rate: What Schools Stand to Lose

• Chantell

Welcome to today’s K-12 Tech Podcast episode. Today I have the pleasure of talking about E-Rate with two experts on the topic. Dr. Sheryl Abshire is here. She’s the former CTO of Calcasieu Parish School District in Louisiana. And I’ve got John Harrington here from Funds for Learning. So right now, E-Rate is once again under attack. The FCC has a proposal on the table asking whether we should limit E-Rate, even eliminate E-Rate. And if you are not familiar with E-Rate, maybe you’re an EdTech leader who doesn’t dabble in the finances or the network. E-Rate supports over 100,000 schools and roughly 11,000 libraries, offers about $3 billion in discounts a year. So I’m going to let Sheryl and John give us a little overview of why they are experts in this topic, and the history and the purpose of E-Rate. All right, Sheryl, take it away!

• Sheryl

I’ll be glad to get started. Chantell, thank you for having us to talk about what I think is a critically important issue now facing all of America’s schools and libraries and not just the school libraries, all of our public and private libraries, and not just our public schools, but also all of our private schools. You did a good job of framing the absolute expanse of the program. I was fortunate as a beginning chief technology officer to begin during year one of E-Rate and have watched the program grow exponentially over the years and become really the most critical piece of infrastructure and the piece that has connected every school and library in this country to the learning objectives of every school in this country, you know, during its 30 year history. The challenge, I think, for us today is that this proposed rule making represents, in my opinion, and those of a lot of people I’m working with around the country, one of the most consequential challenges that we’ve really faced in the 30 year history. And so I think the central question and I’m going to, you know, turn to John in just a moment, is that has connectivity become less important because the schools are connected? So I think we hear some conversations, some little snippets saying, oh, well, we’re done because we’ve connected the schools. So has it become less important because most schools are connected or I would posit the question are more important because nearly every essential school function now depends on connectivity. Can’t open schools without it. Can’t do attendance. Can’t start your bus routes. Parents can’t call in. Can’t see grades. Most curriculum is now digital and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So I think that’s the essential question is not are we finished? It’s are we required and is it necessary to teach our students what they need for their future, not our past with this full opportunity of broadband connectivity?

• John

You know, a little bit of the context. It was back in 1996 that Congress recognized, hey, we’re going to need schools, libraries connected to the internet. And they launched this program. And, you know, back then there was dial up connections. Much slower it was AOL, those sorts of things. And it’s almost hard to remember what that world was like. Obviously today, you know, as Sheryl was describing, just everything is connected. I think one of the challenges, though, for the general public is that we sort of live in a world most of us where, you know, we are online, we are connected, we have Wi-Fi, and it’s very easy to take those connections for granted. The E-Rate program is an annual funding cycle that provides the discounts for fast internet connections, for wireless access points, and we all understand it. But to others outside this room, they may not know that it takes money, takes planning, it takes equipment. That equipment has to be changed out every, you know, every so often to make sure it’s up to speed. And I often get… sort of the question, when, you know, I’m at a social event or something and someone says, hey, what do you do John? And I say, well, I help schools get funding for internet. And they say, well, don’t the schools already have the internet that they need? And, you know, the thing I usually say to them is, okay, well, what about you at home? You know, are you done with your internet at home? They’re like, no, no. In fact, you know, I need to get another… I need to get a gigabit connection now at home because all my kids try to get online. We’re trying to watch, you know, the football game… And you multiply that times 500 students in a middle school. And the complexity, the cost, all of that . It’s significant. Fortunately, there is this E-Rate program as of today, that is providing support for all of those connections. And in fact, if we didn’t have that E-Rate funding most of the schools in America would not be connected to the level that they are today. And that’s the concern about the future of the program. How will these schools stay connected if we’re not providing support for that internet access?

• Chantell

100%. I can tell you, I was a brand new CTO at my school district, and previously… at the semester previously, I’d been in the classroom and I knew that one of the first things we needed to fix was our internet connection. On a good day half of my students’ Chromebooks would connect to the access points that were in my classroom. Because it wasn’t built for density. It couldn’t handle that many connections at once. So I started doing some… How am I going to afford this? How much is an access point cost? How much does licensing subscription cost? Well, luckily the E-Rate program existed and without that discounted funding, there’s no way I would have been able to replace every access point in the entire school district. There’s no way I could have put in new fiber connection amongst my campuses that share a land and I needed those things. And, you know, when I first started in, it was 2016, January 2016, my school district had a 400-meg connection to the internet and that’s all we could afford with the E-Rate discount. You know? And I think about that, it’s like if you’re not doing state test… it’s state testing. So if you’re not doing state testing, you can’t even take attendance online. There’s not enough internet. And oh, I just before I left my school district scale to five gig. But you’re talking about one family wanting one gig for their family. Five gig is nothing for thousands of students in a school district for a connection, so it doesn’t stop. So I kind of mentioned, you know, that’s a we mentioned it’s a discount structure. And so can one of you explain a little bit more about how that discount works and why that matters?

• Sheryl

I think John can take that one. And then I’m going to come back to… Why now? You know why… Why is this all of a sudden come up to be such a hot topic? So John talk a little bit about that.

• John

So the E-Rate program is a very unique program and I would argue… And I’ve got data to back this up, that it’s one of the most effective federal programs in existence, period, across all sectors of the economy. The E-Rate program was created as a discount program. It’s tied to a competitive bidding process that forces schools and libraries to take their needs out into the market. It’s… over the past 30 years, the program next year will be celebrating its 30th year. And schools, libraries, they have to go out for bid. We’ve seen prices go down year in, year out for these services. And the schools themselves qualify for these discounts based on the level of economic need in their community. Every school in America, with very few exceptions, qualifies for some level of E-Rate support. Whether that’s an urban or a rural, red state or blue state. Essentially every school in America is benefiting from this program, but that support is tied to the level of economic need in the community. So those communities that serve a more disadvantaged community economically, qualify for a proportionately higher E-Rate discount rate. So in this way, the program, it’s driving competition for internet access or equipment sales. It’s actually lowering the price for those goods and services as they’re installed. And the schools that need the money the most qualify for the highest discount rate. So it’s a very good balance. Every zip code, every community is benefiting from this program. And that’s carefully tied to the level of the economic need that exists in that community.

• Sheryl

I think what’s important about what John said is that equity could be the first casualty of this proposal. Because with this high support going to communities with the greatest economic need as John so eloquently discussed. Saying, one of the pieces of the proposal is like limiting E-Rate to the rural schools. Well, at first blush, that might sound kind of equitable, but what it overlooks is the deep poverty and connectivity challenges that exist in our urban and suburban communities. Because in my district of 35,000 students, I had wealth and poverty across 3,046 square miles. So saying, well, this part of the community can afford it. Can they really afford it when there are students going to that school that are also on free and reduced lunch? But not in the large numbers of students, you know, in another area of the community. So the concern for me is… This reducing or ending E-Rate is not going to affect every community equally. And what it will do, I think, is widen the existing opportunity gaps. And that’s the challenge when we talk about that. So I would I guess I would just say geography is not the only measure of need. Poverty exists in rural, urban, and suburban America. And E-Rate is one of the few programs in the country that has helped us erase the digital divide and spread this equality across opportunity for every student and every teaching environment in our country.

• Chantell

Absolutely Sheryl. And you hit on the fact that you wanted to come back to why now? What’s going on right now. And we know… we see in the news, you know, AI is scary. There’s a lot of backlash against EdTech right now. So I think it’s really important to address the why now but also to address what E-Rate does and doesn’t cover. Right?

• Sheryl

I think the reason that we’re seeing this rising up of wait? Wait? Aren’t we done? Aren’t at the schools, as John referenced, aren’t we connected? My understanding is that FCC leadership has connected these concerns about excessive screen time with a pivotal question of whether the federal government should continue to subsidize school connectivity. I think that’s one of the pivotal issues. And I think as educators, you know, and I would say educators are not those that are formally credentialed. But parents are educators. I mean, we are all educators, you know, in our communities that we need to challenge this assumption that internet access automatically provides excessive or harmful screen time use. The pivotal point about this is E-Rate funds connectivity, network infrastructure. Doesn’t determine curriculum, instructional design, device policies, or how teachers use… How teachers use technology. All internet provides is the gateway. You know we’re the behind the scenes, we’re the Wizard of Oz. Behind the curtains, you know, pulling all the levers, making it all work. And to me, the question is not how many minutes were students on the screens using internet connectivity? But what were the students doing, creating, learning, accomplishing? So… There is an issue and we should address for technology use, you know, by improving practice but not by disconnecting students and educators. To me, that’s where I put an exclamation point. We are not responsible for that. And to assume that, to me, is a gross piece of negligence and oversight.

• John

Yeah I was going to say, you know, it’s very interesting that the FCC has weighed into this conversation around educational screen time and device usage and so on. In many ways, as I talk to CIOs and CTOs across the country and you know, their response is sort of like, well, welcome. You know, welcome to the conversation, because this is something we have been managing and wrestling with, you know, for years and years. What is the appropriate mix? Where and how does education technology tools and resources, you know, come into the classroom? And how do we equip our teachers to use these tools effectively? And, you know, there’s no question that, you know, I remember when I was, you know, in elementary school or something and, you know, it was about, oh, do you bring a VCR into the room and do you watch something on a videotape? And was that effective or not? You know, the technology has changed, but the question, how do we effectively use these technologies? What’s the role for a teacher, these other resources? Those are great conversations to have. The thing, though, that we can’t really debate is the need for connectivity in general. Whether or not a student needs to be using a particular tool online for a particular class? May or may not be the case. Should they have access to it? Should the teacher decide, hey, this is the right resource for this curriculum, for this project, for these students to be able to connect. We don’t want to take those sorts of options away from the teachers. And again, fortunately, the E-Rate program provides the support, the discounts for this. And, you know, I want to mention too, you asked about the funding mechanism itself. It’s important to note it is a discount. It’s not some grant program where the money is just sitting there. Come grab it. You use it, you don’t use it. Use it for whatever you want. It’s a discount program. It’s tied specifically to schools and libraries investing their own funds. So they’ve got skin in the game for every service, for every piece of equipment. They are saying, we need this for our classroom. We need this for our library patrons, and we’re willing to put our own money in alongside the E-Rate program to make sure that we have those connections.

• Sheryl

And I think it’s so important, John, that you said that, you know, it’s interesting why this conversation is around how is it being used for teaching and learning? Because what has evolved with the E-Rate program is that this connectivity, it now supports the entire school enterprise. It’s a lot more than just school devices. It’s used for assessment. The student information system. All communication runs across these networks. Our safety systems. The alerts that go out to our officials. If something happens in a building with an intruder, the safety to be able to even enter the building and check someone’s background to make sure that they are legitimate and should be allowed near our children. All of the HVAC systems. The transportation. All of the applications for assisted learning for our special education students. The school district… I know school districts, If they lose their connection, they close school. They send everybody home because the environment can no longer safely support what we are required to do. Not only by law, but by ethical considerations, is what should we do in a school environment? The things have changed since all of the people making these decisions were in school. You know, I love the thing about “we’re experts on schools”. And my come back to that is, oh, because you went to a school one time? We should be asking these questions to the people that live in this environment. And our responsibility… We have responsibility for this, because those are the true experts. Broadband is not just an instructional accessory anymore. I would submit it’s the nervous system of a modern school district and of a modern library that provides education, employment, research, and public services. Our public libraries, many people don’t have connectivity. And the public libraries people go to do the work they need to do. I live here in the, you know, South Texas, southern Louisiana, where I’m from area, where when the hurricanes came and all of the natural disasters that come the public collaborators, where people go to get connectivity to find out the information about how they can get resources, how they can connect to FEMA. And without this connectivity, I think the real problem is going to happen. That school districts are going to have to choose between connectivity and funding teachers. I was on a call with superintendents the other day that said, you know, 82% of our budget is personnel. So if we have to pick up these discounted services, which we will have to do to maintain the school district. The first place we have to cut is people. And I said, well, does that mean you’re going to seek class size increase? They said, we don’t see any other way around it.

• Chantell

That’s so true Sheryl. If you really look at the budget. You look at what schools spend their money on, personnel is number one. But when schools experience a cyber attack or when there’s a widespread outage, we close school buildings. Because the network is not there to support the school day, let alone teaching and learning that’s happening. Students aren’t getting lunch at the point of sale. They’re not comfortable because the HVAC isn’t working. They’re not secure because the access controls aren’t functioning. So it’s integral to what goes on in a school building. I want to move us next to talk about that realities. Like really dig into that realities of running a school network on a shoestring budget. Because that’s what we’re doing. We’re running enterprise grade infrastructure with next to no funding and the E-Rate program and the discounts that are offered help us make that possible. So let’s talk about what it looks like and what the process is to actually take advantage of those discounts. John mentioned competitive bidding earlier. And  the fact that a lot of school districts do multi-year contracts. Let’s hash that all out.

• John

So, Funds for Learning conducts an annual survey of E-Rate applicants. This past summer, we closed our most recent survey… 11% of all schools and libraries in the United States participated. So a little more than, about 1 in 9. And the results are very telling. 96% said that E-Rate funding is vital for connectivity in their school district. Another 91% said that the E-Rate program, it’s because of the E-Rate program that they have faster connections, more connections, and 80% said that they have… Those prices, they pay less for the internet connections that they have because of the E-Rate competitive bidding process. So they’re getting… 96% are relying on these funds. They say it’s mission critical to what they’re doing, and the program is actually helping to lower prices. And, you know, whenever you have competition, you know, it can help lower prices. And so the E-Rate program is actually on the forefront I think of a lot of things that we now take for granted even more. Back in 1997, when it was launched, the whole idea of the discount versus, typical grant was very, very new, very novel, still is. The idea of a nationwide bidding portal, so to speak. One place where you could go as a vendor and look for opportunities all across the nation. This again was, this was AOL days, you know, this was the internet was very new, but there was all of a sudden this marketplace for schools and libraries and again, we’ve seen over the years how this has actually helped lower pricing. So for schools and libraries, the money itself is mission critical to having those connections in place. And it drives not only, you know, it helps support the funds,  but actually lowers the pricing for them. So it’s a twofer, you know, and the schools themselves cannot afford to do this, but because of the E-Rate program, they have lower pricing and they’re getting these discounts to help them stretch their dollars further.

• Chantell

Absolutely. And I can tell you that, my school district, my former school district, we were paying less monthly for our five gig internet connection in 2026 than we were for our 400 meg in 2016, thanks to the prices going down. Thanks to the E-Rate program.

• Sheryl

Well there’s been growth. John Harrington talks about competition, which has been a critical component of cost reduction for all of the services. Again, Chantell, I remember during the early years what we had to pay for connectivity, what we paid for wiring costs, for wireless access points that were extremely high. But the competition spawned increased business opportunities. We have seen so many businesses across America that were spawned by E-Rate opportunity and growing more fiber companies, more companies producing wireless access points. And then ultimately that resulted in increased competitive pricing for all of us. But the economic impact to this country of E-Rate and, John… I do not have those in-depth numbers, I know John does, has been phenomenal over the growth of the program. So one of the things the FCC should consider is what schools and libraries have contributed in growing the economic prowess of our country in this specific area of economic growth. And it’s been phenomenal since 1996.

• John

You know I remember… Chantell, my wife was a second grade school teacher 30 years ago. And out of our own budget, we went and got a pager. So that she’d have a pager. And she actually gave that pager number out to parents so if they needed to connect with her or reach out to her for some way. You know, that… That seems quaint and very antiquated today. But when we talk about connectivity, the importance of the E-Rate program and these internet connections, you know, that’s sort of the lens I process all this through. I think, do we want to go back to a world where parents can’t get a hold of teachers? Where teachers can’t connect to their parents? You know, we all have apps. We have phones with apps. You know, we can’t order Chick-Fil-A or Whataburger without, you know, an app on a phone, a connection, and even toy with the idea that somehow we would want to, take our students, our teachers, and wall them off somewhere disconnected from the rest of the world. It’s just… it doesn’t seem practical. I believe that one of the challenges we face is that lawmakers and decision makers in DC live in worlds where they’re hyper connected. So for them, just the concept of, well, what do you mean there’s not a connection? What do you mean, there’s not Wi-Fi? It’s right here. You know, that’s not the reality that, you know, many millions of Americans live in and we have to work for make sure that those connections are in place and all of that takes money, which is why the E-Rate program is so important.

• Sheryl

And has been so successful. I think John mentioned it earlier. The Office of Management and Budget has regarded the E-Rate program, John, as you referenced, one of the most successful. The program that is the least consumed with waste, fraud, and abuse. Receives very high marks because of the oversight. And school districts are extremely diligent about this work because they understand how important it is. The bidding, the dates, the complexity of the program. But yet school districts still comply at the highest level of government programs. And that should tell the story of why this program is so critical. The other point I’d make is that in this country, we have worked diligently to assure that our students with special needs have accessibility. And the E-Rate has been one of the most important components to provide alternative learning opportunities for students with special needs. In this country, we are seeing an increasing rate of students with disabilities. Some severe and profound. Some are small disabilities, some students are autistic, students that have hearing problems or visual problems, and those students without connectivity will be disenfranchised from learning. And our country should be extremely concerned. And we certainly will be ashamed of not providing opportunities, equal learning opportunities, for every young person in this country. I remember teaching in a time when we began to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act. I taught when that was not a part of teaching and learning, and those were dark days. I think for our educational system. E-Rate shone a light on these opportunities, and provided that. And if for no other reason than to provide equal opportunities for all of our students, our policymakers should pay very, very close attention to that. And we need to send that message.

• Chantell

Sheryl, we’ve touched several times on just the equity issue at stake here. It’s not just our most rural school districts. It’s not just our largest school districts. It’s not just part of our student population, who happens to live in a more economically disadvantaged part of our geographic location. It’s not just our students with special needs. What about our students taking dual credit courses through, you know, remotely through, university that maybe isn’t close by, that, you know, those students at the high end of the spectrum need push just as much. I know in my small rural school district here in Indiana, and we surveyed every year as part of our enrollment process… For a third of our students, the school provided device was the only non phone device in their house. And for over a third of our students, there was no internet connection at home. They were relying on the school for internet connection. They were relying on free Wi-Fi at the public library. And you know, we saw that in Covid. We saw them, you know, flocking to our parking lots so that they could still, you know, get their education in. We saw the library flooded with people when it was open, all masked. We saw them, you know, sitting in McDonalds and Burger Kings so that they could participate in morning meeting for our elementary students or take online tests for our secondary students. You know it…  This is ubiquitous. All of our students deserve access to the internet and what it can provide for their education. So the end of E-Rate, which  is being proposed, could mean that all of that equity is lost. What else could it mean?

• John

This is a podcast, so we can do a bit of a deep dive. The history of the E-Rate Program actually goes all the way back to 1934. The Communications Act 1934 is when Congress created something called the Universal Service Fund. And way back then they recognized that there was something about communications that unlocked value for our whole society when everyone was connected. When Johnny went off to the big city, you know, left the farm, there was value if Johnny could still call back home to that rural home connection. And while it’s hard to quantify those connections, as a society, if everyone is connected, then things are going to emerge and things are going to happen. And there is just, an inherent value in us being connected. In 1996, Congress wisely added schools and libraries to that universal service fund. And said, hey, we don’t know exactly how this is all going to play out, but we know schools and libraries need to be connected. They need to be our anchor institutions in communities, making sure that our families, our students, our parents are all connected. And look at all that’s transpired, over the last 30 years. Without those connections, without all of these use cases, we lose something. When our parents can’t get connected to the teacher, when the teachers don’t have access to the resources. Maybe for that special needs student. When my  granddaughter, you know, can’t research a project or make a presentation or maybe collaborate with a student in another city or another country, we lose something as a society. Is there room for debate about, you know, how do we effectively use these tools? And yeah, what is the right balance for educational screen time and recreational screen time and all of that? But again, taking that away and saying, we just don’t need that. Is I think an idea that’s born out of ignorance.

• Sheryl

I’m glad you use that term because I do believe there is a lack of understanding. And maybe a little bit that’s our fault as educators because we were talking earlier, Chantell, about the extreme stress and pressure that school district leaders are under right now. This is the beginning of school. That’s always a time when there is a lot going on. But to position this information overload now about… We’re starting school. We’ve got issues with funding. There are funding cuts all over this country for education. We’re essentially trying to get rid of the Department of Education, which provided leadership and funding that has been diminished. And so this comes on the heels of all that. And leaders in school districts may not be aware, may not have the time, quite frankly, may not have the mental energy to put forward to think about this now. But I guess I would just say that where this is a cautionary podcast, is that policy makers need to hear from us, and they need to know more than, wow, E-Rate is important. We really need it. They need to know exactly what their community would lose. And so that’s going to take those of us that sit in positions in school districts and in libraries to reach out to our senators, to our congresspeople, to provide comments to the FCC. I’m going to let John speak to how do we do this? But I’ve been a huge social media voice saying, go to Saveourerate.com. That’s where everything’s sitting. Where you can submit your comments. You can send a very simple request to your people that represent you in Washington, D.C., and that are responsible for representing you. And these comments to the FCC, John, I believe they’re due October 13th. So I guess I would say time’s a wastin. We should not now sit on the fact that we assume that everything’s going to be okay. I had someone tell me the other day, Sheryl, I think you’re going a little bit over the top on this. And I said, well, if something happens that is not positive for universal service to schools and libraries, then it will be too late. We cannot bemoan the fact, oh, I should’ve, coulda, woulda. Now is the time to shoulda. John, talk a little bit maybe about that process and what people can do, because I think this can be a harken, a call to action for people that listen to this. Okay. What can I do? We can tell you what to do.

• John

Yeah. The saveourerate.com is a very easy, straightforward way to get comments submitted to the FCC. You can also go directly to the FCC. There is a website, their website. There’s a filing. You can go in there and actually just submit a simple filing. The bitter irony to me is that the comments are submitted electronically. You know, this debate is taking place online. And it’s just very ironic to me that we’re debating online whether or not, you know, schools should be online. And, that, to me is the clearest case that, yes, they do need to be online. And yes, we can debate security and safety and efficacy and all of that. And let’s do that online. In ways that are safe and secure and accessible and all of that.  But making our voices known requires a connection. And I think it’s important that  schools, students, parents, teachers all have a voice online and telling the stories of how these tools and resources are used. Very, very effective, super important. You know, I’m just shocked every day in positive ways. Surprised when I, you know, tour schools and things and see the programs, the ways that technology are being integrated and programs that are helping to helping grow plants, you know, and, and seeing how students are taking measurements and things, and tracking that information online. So many of our decision makers in DC, they are 40, 50 years removed, I think, from those types of experiences. And it’s good for them to hear and understand that we are equipping students for success for the future. And it looks a little different than it did, say, 100 years ago.

• Sheryl

And, you know, the practical fact is, when we were all in school and certainly when policymakers were in school, the world was different, education was different. And as you said, John, they live in the digital footprint. So if we’re going to prepare students for a future competitive workforce that, quite frankly, is not competitive just within their little geographic region where they live, our students are going to have to compete globally, and other countries are not shirking away from their responsibility to connect their schools, in fact, in ways that in some way are more superior than what we’re doing now. So for me, the shock is that we’re going to now question what other countries have learned from us and they are doing? And now we’re going to reduce our commitment. When the people who learn from us internationally now have upped their commitment to this work, to me, that is such an… such an irony. And I guess one of the things I would kind of close with, I know we’re reaching the end, Chantell, here of this conversation. Is that in the loudest, strongest voice I can say E-Rate’s the future should not be decided solely by people who are discussing schools and libraries from a distance. It’s got to be shaped. It’s got to be informed by the educators. The librarians, the students and the families in the communities who depend on this connectivity for the very future of their community. As they grow the future workforce, the learners and the people that will ultimately be those policymakers for them and will fill the roles and the jobs in those communities.

• Chantell

Absolutely Sheryl. And you both hit on the fact that people outside of this work are the ones making decisions right now. So it’s our responsibility as people inside this work to make our voices heard. I want to end with a couple of rapid fire round questions. So quick responses, just one sentence or two, you both get a chance to answer each one. So my first question is what’s one word for what E-Rate means to districts and communities you serve?

• John

Empowerment

• Sheryl

I would say E-Rate means future proofing our schools and our learners.

• Chantell

Both great answers. What’s the most common misconception about E-Rate that you have to correct in the public?

• John

That it’s a grant program. It is not, it’s a discount program. Everyone is paying their own way to participate in the program.

• Sheryl

I think a big misconception is that it’s just going to continue. That it’s a program. And of course, we don’t get rid of programs.

• Chantell

No. That’s optimistic I would say. If you had 30 seconds with an FCC commissioner, what’s the one thing you’d say in 30 seconds?

• John

I’d say, keep the E-Rate program and keep it local. One of my concerns in the current debate is actually this idea of blanket decisions being made around education from Washington, DC. And it’s, sort of the antithesis of, what I think is good decision making, which is push the decisions as local as possible. Let’s keep our local, school districts, our local leaders, making decisions about what’s best for students and keep Washington as far away as possible from setting these sort of sweeping standards.

• Sheryl

If I had a moment to speak to a commissioner, I would say, look at the data. Use the data to see the effectiveness of the program, to see the own government insight. What has been provided to show the effective program called E-Rate, and what is accomplished in terms of a historical perspective as we look towards the real future of our country.

• Chantell

Both great 30 second statements to that FCC Commissioner. Like we need to get those recorded from the podcast and sent in for comments. Thank you both so much for being here today. Thank you for sharing your expertise and your passion for this program that has profoundly changed the way education looks and feels and presents itself today. We will include in the information for this episode Saveourerate.com. It’s easy to remember, but we’ll have a link there. And October 13th. Right? That’s when the comments are due. So you’re right, we’re at we’re on a we’re on a ticking time scale here. Time is counting down. So make your voice heard. Be advocates for this program that you know affects you, your students, and your community. And don’t forget to fill out your Google form so you can get a professional growth point if you need to renew your education license or your CoSN CETL. you can get a professional growth    point for listening to this episode. Thank you again, Sheryl and John.