A conversation with…

a conversation with…

Jessica Rosenworcel

As the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Jessica Rosenworcel has advocated for greater accessibility and affordability in the nation’s communications services to guarantee that all Americans can access the internet — a requirement for success in the 21st century. When the pandemic shut down campuses and left many students scrambling to access their education online, Rosenworcel continued the work of pushing for policies and developing new ways to support wireless services that would keep children and their families connected. This included ensuring broadband access for students caught in the “homework gap” through the FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund and making sure that households struggling to afford internet service could stay connected through the Emergency Broadband Benefit program. She also is responsible for developing policies to help expand the reach of broadband to schools, libraries and households across the country.

In July, the FCC approved a proposal to allow schools and libraries to use E-Rate funding to provide WiFi hot spots and wireless internet services for off-premises use as part of Rosenworcel’s “Learn Without Limits” program.

a conversation with…

Jessica Rosenworcel

girl watching a lesson on an iPad while writing in a notebook

When I started studying this problem years ago, I found that one in three households didn’t have access to broadband, while seven in 10 teachers were assigning nightly schoolwork that required internet access. So, I began calling where these numbers overlap the “homework gap.”

You have been a staunch advocate for closing the “homework gap” — an issue that became even more pressing at the start of the pandemic. Can you explain a bit about what the homework gap is and why addressing it is so critical to closing achievement gaps in education?

For years, the federal government has used the E-Rate program to help connect schools and libraries to high-speed internet, and they’ve used it for all kinds of instruction and learning. But when I visited schools across the country, I kept hearing that even with this program, many kids in both rural and urban communities were disconnected at home and stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide. When I started studying this problem years ago, I found that one in three households didn’t have access to broadband, while seven in 10 teachers were assigning nightly schoolwork that required internet access. So, I began calling where these numbers overlap the “homework gap.”

Those numbers may be different today, but for far too many children, the reality is the same. Think back to the images from the pandemic of kids sitting outside fast food restaurants just to get WiFi for schoolwork. Recently, I met with the principal from Union Avenue Elementary in Los Angeles who helped facilitate a roundtable conversation with me and some of the parents of the children who attended the school. They shared their struggles with affording internet access and other necessities, even after the pandemic, doing whatever it takes so their kids can get their schoolwork done.

In the U.S., I believe it is within our power to ensure every school and every student is connected at home so they can succeed. It’s a challenge we can overcome. We can figure this out.

In reality, we have a lot of households that have had service but are not always able to afford it. Rent, gas and groceries enter the picture, and some folks are forced to make hard choices on which bills to pay, and sometimes must disconnect their internet service.

On July 18, the FCC voted on changes to the E-Rate program to allow for off-premises use of WiFi hotspots and internet services through libraries and schools across the country. How do you envision this decision benefiting students and families?

In the aftermath of the pandemic, Congress created the Affordable Connectivity Program, which grew to help over 23 million households get online and stay online. But now the program has ended because the funds that were appropriated are no more. Many of those households are struggling to keep their service or are experiencing inconsistent service or disconnection. This is really about ensuring the continuity of that connection.

When you look at the digitally disconnected, I believe a lot of people make the mistake of thinking there are households that have service and then there are households without service. In reality, we have a lot of households that have had service but are not always able to afford it. Rent, gas and groceries enter the picture, and some folks are forced to make hard choices on which bills to pay, and sometimes must disconnect their internet service.

Think about all of the factors and hardships that create an inability to keep that service going, like job loss or the loss of programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program. Sustainability is key. This is about making sure that kids who are at risk of not getting online at home can keep up with their classmates. I believe WiFi hotspots should be available for loan in every community library and school library across the country. This should be standard nationwide. So, that’s why the FCC has decided to modernize the E-Rate program to ensure schools and libraries can improve their ability to help keep kids connected.

How has the FCC school bus WiFi initiative been going?

I see both the school bus WiFi initiative and the WiFi hotspot program as part of the same objective. I call this initiative Learn Without Limits. In part, they are a response to what we can do for our children now that the Affordable Connectivity Program is gone. But the modernization of the E-Rate program is also a recognition of the world we’re in today. Simply having an internet connection is so much more important than it used to be because you’re not going to succeed in school without having it.

The WiFi on school buses was an initiative that grew out of talking to teachers and students in rural parts of the country. As you may know, kids in rural America spend a lot of time on school buses — often spending an hour to get to school in the morning and an hour later to get back home.

Last year, I was in Vermont with U.S. Sen. Peter Welch discussing the idea of putting WiFi on school buses. A teacher there described how one of her students, before the bus would pick everyone up at the end of the day, would rush to the library in a panicked frenzy to print out information. This student was going home to a rural community without internet access and needed to ensure she had everything printed to do her homework and turn it in the next morning.

It doesn’t have to be this way. If we can connect our school buses, we turn ride time into connected time for homework. This is especially valuable in rural areas where kids spend a lot of time on buses and are more likely to live in places without broadband infrastructure. That’s one part of our efforts. In terms of funding requests, we received 414 applications from 396 applicants with a total demand of $20 million for WiFi on school buses.

We’re also ensuring that schools and libraries can loan out WiFi hotspots. Additionally, we’ve started a pilot program for school cybersecurity initiatives. With increased reliance on school networks, vulnerabilities arise. We’re working with schools to understand what’s needed to secure their on-premises networks.

The modernization of the E-Rate program is also a recognition of the world we’re in today. Simply having an internet connection is so much more important than it used to be because you’re not going to succeed in school without having it.

What’s a fact about broadband or internet connectivity (or the widespread lack thereof in many communities) that you find continues to surprise people when they hear about it?

I’m going to harken back to my conversation with the parents at Union Avenue Elementary. Families are hurting. Over 23 million U.S. households used the Affordable Connectivity Program to get connected. Now, there are so many who cannot continue with their internet service because they cannot afford it. One mother in Los Angeles told me how she collected coupons for $1 coffee so she could bring her family of six to a fast food restaurant and sit as customers while her kids did their schoolwork. What incredible grit. She has children falling into the homework gap and she is doing whatever she can to pull them out. But I believe we should find a way to do more because her kids and others like them are going to have a harder time thriving in the modern world without that connection at home. So, that’s why we’re modernizing the programs that we have to help these families and ensure their children can succeed in school.

What will it realistically take to ensure all students across the county have reliable access to the internet speeds necessary to successfully and meaningfully participate in their education?

We’ve done more these last three years to connect kids and low-income families to affordable internet than ever before in our nation’s history. From pandemic era relief programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program to our work modernizing E-Rate with WiFi on buses and WiFi hotspots in community and school libraries everywhere, the agency has been using all the tools at its disposal to make affordable internet a reality for everyone, everywhere.

Of course, there are places in this country where our networks still don’t reach. There are programs across government to help with this, including at the Department of Commerce, which has billions available to help bring service to unserved communities. We need to make sure those shovels get in the ground and this infrastructure gets built.

What does the E-Rate program cover that local educational agencies don’t seem to take full advantage of?

One area where we think the reach of E-Rate can go further involves Tribal libraries. We have made changes to our rules and set up a pilot initiative so we can bring more of these libraries into the program and get more broadband out in the often-rural communities where they serve.

There are very real barriers to accessing broadband on Tribal lands and more work that needs to be done but making sure Tribal students can connect to the internet can help overcome obstacles like cost and availability.

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