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Law360 (February 5, 2021, 9:17 PM EST) -- Dozens of U.S. senators have urged the Federal Communications Commission, which is under new leadership, to "take long-overdue action" by providing home internet connection and devices to students who currently do not have the resources to learn online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 37 senators, almost all Democrats, cited in their Thursday letter how up to 12 million children — disproportionately from communities of color, low-income households, tribal lands and rural areas — do not have internet access at home, barring them from online learning.
They urged the FCC to use its decades-old E-Rate program, which provides discounted internet access to classrooms and libraries, and apply it to students' homes, which have become "de facto classrooms" amid the pandemic.
"Despite our repeated call to address this homework gap, your predecessor at the FCC refused to use the emergency authority available to the Chair and resources available through the E-Rate program to connect these vulnerable children," the senators wrote in their letter.
"Contrary to your predecessor's assertions, the FCC has always had clear emergency authority to utilize existing E-Rate funding to connect students learning online during the coronavirus pandemic," they added.
The FCC had announced on Monday that it would contemplate using E-Rate to pay for remote learning during the pandemic.
An FCC spokesperson told Law360 in an emailed statement that, "We welcome this valuable input from these Senate leaders. We share the same goal of closing the Homework Gap and getting every child the connectivity they need right now."
The homework gap is a term for obstacles that students face when working on homework without reliable internet — this was coined before 2020 but was exacerbated by last year's widespread online learning due to the pandemic.
Sens. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, led the letter.
Near when remote learning began, Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., introduced a $1.5 billion Emergency Educational Connections Act of 2020, which Sens. Markey and Cantwell built upon for a Senate version.
The letter echoes efforts that their acts proposed — providing wi-fi, modems, routers and devices for students during the pandemic.
Other senators who signed the letter are Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, Mark R. Warner, D-Va., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., Ron Wyden, D-Ore, Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., Cory A. Booker, D-N.J., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Angus S. King Jr., I-Maine, Thomas R. Carper, D-Del., Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Christopher A. Coons, D-Del., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Jeffrey A. Merkley, D-Ore., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Raphael G. Warnock, D-Ga.
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