WC Docket No. 26-133FCC 26-41Comments due Oct 13, 2026

E-Rate is under FCC review

What the Commission is asking, what the public comment record shows so far, and where to read more.

Prepared for Sherita Smith, New York City Charter School Center, by Charter Technology Solutions. Figures as of September 23, 2026.

  1. Jun 25
    FCC votes 2 to 1 to open the review
  2. Aug 14
    Notice published; comment period opens
  3. Oct 13
    Comments due
    Deadline
  4. Nov 12
    Reply comments due
  5. After
    FCC decides; current funding year unaffected

The short version

On June 25 the FCC voted 2 to 1 to open a top-to-bottom review of E-Rate, the program that has discounted school and library internet and network costs for nearly thirty years. Commissioner Gomez dissented. The Notice asks directly whether the program "should be limited or sunset."

Comments are due October 13 and reply comments November 12. Nothing changes for the current funding year while the review runs. Any change would come in a later FCC order.

The FCC frames the review around children's screen time. The docket is titled "Ensuring Children's Safe Use of Screens and E-Rate-Funded Services," the same concern behind the screen-time bills now in Albany.

Superintendents, districts and libraries are filing in large numbers. Charter schools are not. About 20 of nearly 1,200 filings come from the charter sector, and no New York charter association has filed.

What the Commission is asking

  • Whether E-Rate has met its goals and should be limited or sunset, given how many schools are now connected.
  • How much schools rely on E-Rate year to year for broadband and Wi-Fi, and what would happen to affordability if support ended.
  • Whether to narrow the equipment and services E-Rate pays for, including whether school-built fiber networks crowd out private investment.
  • Whether the Children's Internet Protection Act does enough, and what else should protect children on E-Rate funded networks.
  • Program integrity, oversight of E-Rate consultants, and simpler administration.

From the Federal Register notice and the FCC's order page, which also carries the statements of Chairman Carr and Commissioners Gomez and Trusty.

Separate from this review

  • Already decided: Wi-Fi hotspot lending and school bus Wi-Fi were removed from E-Rate eligibility in 2025.
  • Already decided: a new centralized competitive bidding portal takes effect in July 2027 (GovTech).
  • Pending in court: a challenge to the legal basis for E-Rate funding, Consumers' Research v. FCC (No. 25-60535), was argued in the federal Fifth Circuit on August 5, 2026. No decision had been reported as of September 23.

What it means for New York City charter schools

$60M+
in E-Rate commitments to New York City charter schools and their networks, funding years 2022 to 2025
135 of 140
New York City charter applicants funded in 2025 at the 90 percent maximum discount
$78,000
five-year network budget for the median New York City charter school, before the discount

From USAC's public funding data, funded requests only, read September 23. The dollar total counts only what can be tied to New York City charter schools, so the true figure is higher.

New York City charter schools and their networks received more than $60 million in E-Rate commitments over funding years 2022 to 2025, between $12 million and $17 million a year.

E-Rate discounts run from 20 to 90 percent (up to 85 percent for the network inside the building), set by the share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. New York City charter schools sit at the top of that range: of the 140 funded as their own applicants in 2025, 135 received the maximum 90 percent discount and the other five at least 80 percent.

The program has two parts. Category 1 brings internet service to the building. Category 2 pays for the network inside it: cabling, switches, wireless access points, firewalls and their upkeep. Category 2 runs on five-year budgets per school, and the current cycle covers funding years 2026 through 2030.

New schools feel it most. A new charter school has to build its whole network before the first student walks in, at the moment it has the least money it will ever have. In the current five-year cycle, USAC sets each school's network budget at $201.57 per student before the discount. For the median New York City charter school that is about $78,000 over five years, and E-Rate pays up to 85 percent of it.

Across New York, schools and libraries have received more than $800 million in E-Rate support in recent years, as reported by the New York Public News Network on September 14. USAC data puts New York's funded E-Rate commitments at about $812 million over funding years 2021 to 2025.

The comment record so far

1,198
filings in the docket: 667 letters and 531 short express comments
~20
from charter schools, charter networks and charter associations
3
from New York City charter operators
0
from New York charter associations

Counted from the FCC's public docket on September 23 by reviewing each filing that mentions charter schools. Filings more than doubled in September, from about 470 at the end of August. The live total is on the docket page.

New York City charter schools that have filed

Charter associations that have filed

Every charter-sector filing to date (20)

Four more charter schools co-signed a September 14 joint filing with more than 200 school districts and education agencies, among them the East Ramapo and Tarrytown districts in New York.

How to file

Express comment

Name, address and a few sentences typed into a form. About five minutes, no attachment.

Open the express form

Standard filing

Upload a signed letter as a PDF. Best for an association letter or one that carries numbers.

Open the standard form
  • Reply comments, due November 12, can respond directly to what others have filed.
  • The comments that carry weight use the school's own numbers: its discount rate, what E-Rate paid for last year, and what it would cut without it.
  • Every filing is public, usually the day it posts. Search all filings in the docket.

Coverage

Primary sources