@TomWheelerFCC & @JRosenworcel talk #ERate reform at #CCSSOLegCon14 #broadband #fcc #edtech

On March 16-18 2014 the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) held its 2014 Legislative Conference. In a session on March 17, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel addressed the education leaders on E-Rate reform. In pursuit of President Obama’s ConnectED Initiative which includes a commitment to connect 99 percent of all students to high-speed broadband within 5 years, last July the FCC launched the reform effort aka E-Rate 2.0. The proceeding has to date garnered 1800+ comments. In her remarks on Monday Commissioner Rosenworcel Chair Wheeler emphasized the urgency of reform noting that, currently, E-Rate does not even cover W-Fi. He said the FCC had identified $2 Billion of funding to spend over the next two years, solely on improving schools and other anchor institutions’ Internet connections. He announced the formation of a USF Special Strike Force to insure “there is adherence to the rules and the people’s money is wisely spent.” Video is below. Closed captions are available.

CCNSO Conference

View on C-SPAN: http://www.c-span.org/video/?318326-2/education-policy
Transcript of Tom Wheeler remarks: http://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-wheeler-remarks-ccsso-legislative-conference