GAO Asks FCC to Assess Value of Using E-rate Funds to Help Close Homework Gap
GAO asked the FCC to assess ways it can use federal funding to make internet connections more accessible to lower-income primary and secondary school students away from school to help confront the so-called homework gap facing underconnected families, it said…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
in a report to congressional committees Monday. According to GAO's analysis, "among all school-age children, those in lower-income households are less likely to use the internet at home than those in higher-income households." In a July 15 letter to the GAO responding to its report, Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has already tasked the FCC Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireline Bureau to "assess the potential benefits, costs, and challenges of making off-premises wireless broadband access eligible for the E-Rate program support." Monteith cautioned, however, that the E-rate program is authorized only to provide discounts for educational purposes and advanced telecommunications and information services for school classrooms. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel recently said the FCC needs to get creative in addressing the homework gap (see 1907080068).