The White House Wednesday called the FCC proposal to raise the E-rate cap by $1.5 billion an "essential step" in the President's ConnectED initiative.
That shout out for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposed revamp of E-rate, which the chairman outlined to reporters earlier this week came in an e-mail from the White House about a day-long White House event Wednesday, where the President met with educators from across the country to talk about that ConnectED initiative, whose goals is to connect 99% of students to high-speed broadband via schools and libraries.
Citing the FCC, the White House said that "68% of school districts report that not a single school in their district can meet high-speed connectivity goals."
The President announced the ConnectED initiative in June 2013, which included calling on the FCC to spur high-speed connectivity to schools. "Since that time, the FCC has taken steps to modernize the E-rate program to support high-speed connectivity for America’s schools and libraries," the White House said, calling the FCC's action in February to begin the expansion a "$2 billion down payment on the President's connectED goals.
Citing Monday's announcement of the expansion of the E-rate subsidy, the White House said: "This proposal – scheduled for consideration by the FCC in December – constitutes an essential step to provide the resources needed to meet the goals the President outlined..."
