Senator cites classroom learning, library connectivity as E-Rate successes

Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said one of the reasons he worked to create the E-Rate program was because the committee recognized, even in 1996, the power of technology and the effect it could have on classroom learning.

"Because of E-Rate, what was once so extraordinary is now an everyday part of learning," he said in his opening statement to the E-Rate hearings. "For example, in 1996, when the Telecommunications Act was signed into law, only 14 percent of all classrooms were connected to the Internet. Among the poorest schools, only five percent of classrooms were connected. The most recent statistics for classroom connection are amazing -- over 92 percent of all classrooms are connected, and 95 percent of the poorest classrooms are connected."

He said schools have been able to conduct virtual field trips to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and to the International Space Station. And for those without Internet access at home, E-Rate provides a crucial connection to the nation's libraries.

"For so many of our schools, an Internet connection gives them access to an unparalleled amount of information they could otherwise not afford," he said. "Technology has been the great equalizer in society and every child deserves to be connected to the promise that this technology holds."

E-Rate, which costs about $2 billion per year, is funded by fees on monthly phone bills. President Obama has called on the FCC to temporarily expand E-Rate to provide Internet speeds of up to one gigabit per second in schools across the country.

FCC will vote on Friday to move forward in considering the president's proposal.

The Hill, July 17, 2013

Sen. Rockefeller's remarks, July 17, 2013