By the 2015 school year, every school should...

remarks. By the end of the decade, that number should increase to 1 Gbps per 1,000 students, she said. “E-Rate 2.0” will better position U.S. students to compete with those abroad, who are currently delivering faster speeds to students who are getting more math and science in their curricula, Rosenworcel planned to say. Roughly half of E-rate schools access the Internet at speeds of 3 Mbps or less, she was to say. We fail our students if we expect digital age learning to take place at near dial-up speeds.” To reach her speed goals, the commission will need more data collection, according to her prepared remarks, adding future E-rate applications should collect more information about existing capacity and projected needs. But applicants should also face a “simpler process” to get funding, she said. Multi-year and consortia applications could reduce paperwork and administrative expense, she said. To find the money for all this, the FCC needs to do more to combat waste and abuse in its other USF programs, she wrote. Lifeline needs “more mending” to free up funds to put into E-rate, she said. “We have a choice,” Rosenworcel said. “We can wait and see where the status quo takes us and let other nations lead the way. Or we can choose a future where all American students have the opportunity to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter who they are, where they live, or where they go to school."