Prioritize E-rate Category I Schools, Simington Asked

The Education and Library Networks Coalition asked FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington to prioritize school districts in E-rate's Category I discount matrix if demand exceeds available funds to "ensure that urban and rural areas with the lowest income students are first in line," a filing said Thursday in docket 21-31. Participating in the conversation were the American Federation of School Administrators, National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, National School Boards Association, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and others. The groups backed allowing funds to be used for home internet access services and said the commission will need to determine what's considered a reasonable reimbursement for costs associated with eligible equipment. They "noted that costs for hardware may have increased in particular regions of the country or throughout the country as a result of scarcity." Waive competitive bidding and bid evaluation rules because "state and local procurement rules are sufficiently rigorous to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the program," the groups said.