STATEMENT OF 47 EDUCATION AND LIBRARY ORGANIZATIONS ON THE HOUSE’S APPROVAL OF $300 MILLION FOR THE EMERGENCY CONNECTIVITY FUND AS PART OF THE BUILD BACK BETTER ACT

November 29, 2021

“We very much appreciated the House approving in the Build Back Better Act an additional $300 million for the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), which has already provided home broadband connections to millions of K-12 students, educators, and library patrons. Their vote occurred just after the Federal Communications Commission’s announcement that it had received applications for more than 90% of the $7.17 billion originally appropriated for ECF, which demonstrates strong current demand as well as a continuing need for further investments in bridging the homework gap. While we welcome this additional investment, more funds are needed to ensure that the approximately 6 million home broadband connections, created and funded through ECF dollars, do not go dark when ECF funding runs out. We urge Congress and the Administration to provide additional funding so that the ECF program can continue its important work of keeping our nation’s K-12 students, educators, and library patrons connected to learning.”

AASA, The School Superintendents Association
All4Ed
American Federation of School Administrators
American Library Association
American Psychological Association
American School Counselor Association
Association of Educational Service Agencies
Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents
Association of School Business Officials International
Children’s Health Fund
Code.org
Committee for Children
Common Sense
CoSN, Consortium for School Networking
Council of Administrators of Special Education
Council of Chief State School Officers
Education Reform Now
Family Centered Treatment Foundation
First Focus Campaign for Children
Joint National Committee for Languages
KIPP Public Schools
Learning Forward
Magnet Schools of America
MENTOR
National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement
National Association for Pupil Transportation
National Association of Elementary School Principals
National Association of Federally Impacted Schools
National Association of Independent Schools
National Association of School Psychologists
National Association of Secondary School Principals
National Association of State Boards of Education
National Association of State Directors of Special Education
National Catholic Educational Association
National Council for Languages and International Studies
National Council for the Social Studies
National Council of Teachers of English
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
National Education Association
National Rural Education Advocacy Consortium
National Rural Education Association
National School Boards Association
Project Tomorrow
Public Advocacy for Kids
Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition
State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA)
The Education Trust

Contact: Jon Bernstein, jon@bsg-dc.com, 202-263-2572