The New America Foundation met with FCC Office...

The New America Foundation met with FCC Office of Strategic Planning Chief Jonathan Chambers to push for creation of an “Upgrade Fund” in an E-rate revamp, to facilitate widespread fiber investment (http://bit.ly/1byCWiE). “If the Upgrade Fund were considered to be the ‘carrot’ to encourage fiber investment ... a ’stick’ in the form of actual service requirements would help ensure that internet service providers (or, in some cases, communities themselves) actually take advantage of the dedicated infrastructure funding available,” NAF said. The group also asked the commission to review its support of “non-traditional” students: “Use of current state definitions of elementary and secondary education have led to unequal treatment of learners in Head Start, pre-kindergarten, career and technical education, and juvenile justice programs across states. The FCC should seek to ensure students have the same access and opportunities for learning, regardless of the state in which they happen to reside.” The data collection process in the E-rate program could be improved by supporting integration with other datasets, like those maintained by the National Center for Education Services, NAF said. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is looking to use E-rate to upgrade the Internet speeds schools get, to high-speed broadband (CD Feb 6 p4).