Congressman Don Davis Calls on FCC to Preserve the E-Rate Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Don Davis (NC-01) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr calling on the FCC to protect the E-Rate Program for schools and libraries. The E-Rate Program helps schools in rural communities afford the reliable broadband connectivity their students need. 

“For nearly 30 years, E-Rate has helped give students in rural communities, including across eastern North Carolina, the tools they need to learn and succeed. Since 1998, North Carolina’s public schools and libraries have received more than $1 billion in E-Rate discounts, helping our state to become the first to connect all K-12 classrooms to high-speed broadband,” said Congressman Don Davis.

North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction reports that for every dollar of state funding spent on E-Rate-eligible goods and services, schools received over three dollars in value in Fiscal Year 2025, and that in 2024 the state recouped 99 percent of the fees the Commission collected from North Carolina residents and businesses. 

E-Rate provided about $30 million to public school districts in North Carolina's First Congressional District from 2021 through 2025. 

"If the FCC pulls back on E-Rate, we will be at risk of losing vital services many of our families and rural communities depend on," added Davis.

Congressman Davis also called on the FCC to restore E-Rate program support for school bus Wi-Fi and internet hotspot services.

The full letter is available HERE. 

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