State AG joins coalition urging FCC to provide E-Rate funds for remove learning during pandemic

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently joined 29 other attorneys general in urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fund internet connectivity and internet-enabled devices to K-12 students whose schools are closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and who are learning online at home or other locations.

This month, the FCC asked for comment on petitions urging the commission to temporarily waive some restrictions on its E-Rate program to allow schools to extend their broadband internet networks to students' homes and to allow E-Rate funds to support Wi-Fi hotspots or other broadband connections for students who lack adequate internet connectivity to participate in remote schooling. 

In their comment letter to the FCC, the attorneys general urge the commission to promptly take action to unlock the doors of the virtual classroom while physical schools remain closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"The pandemic has underscored the critical need for adequate internet connectivity for millions of Americans - including students," Nessel said. "Remote learning has quickly become a way of life across the state of Michigan and this nation but it comes with a cost."

The E-Rate program provides funding to connect schools and libraries in all parts of the nation - urban, suburban and rural. Now, all parts of the nation are struggling with the best means to educating K-12 students during the pandemic, Nessel said.

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