Washington, D.C. (July 12, 2023) – FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s planned E-rate cybersecurity pilot is a powerful first step toward comprehensively modernizing the program’s cybersecurity provisions. CoSN greatly appreciates the Chairwoman’s decision to respond to the schools’ longstanding pleas for help, and we appreciate that she has listened to our recommendation of a $200 million investment.
The record in the FCC’s E-rate firewall proceeding is clear; schools need expanded access to advanced cybersecurity tools, and updating E-rate will help. E-rate must not only connect schools to broadband, it must also protect them from cyber threats.
Closing the K-12 cybersecurity gap must be a higher national priority so that all schools — especially those serving our most vulnerable communities — have the means and knowledge to defend themselves from the relentless cyberattacks that daily threaten student and teacher data.
CoSN congratulates the national education, library and privacy groups that have worked tirelessly to support this policy change: SETDA, SHLB Coalition, SECA, CCSSO, NASBE, ALA, NSBA, CDT, CGCS, All4ED, the Benton Foundation, and FFL.
