ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL TAKES ACTION TO SUPPORT INTERNET FOR SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES AS FCC CONSIDERS CUTS

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL TAKES ACTION TO SUPPORT INTERNET FOR SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES AS FCC CONSIDERS CUTS

October 14, 2026

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 23 attorneys general, filed a comment letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) advocating that they maintain the E-Rate program, which provides over $3 billion a year to discount the cost of internet expenses for schools and libraries across the country. During the past five years, Illinois has received over $94 million in E-Rate funding each year.

"High-speed internet is crucial to schools," Raoul said. "Students and teachers rely on it to access educational materials like curriculum, lesson plans and software. Schools also need reliable internet for building security, HVAC, food services and other operations."

Throughout the state, Illinois public schools rely on E-Rate funding to set up and maintain high-speed internet access. For some school districts, E-Rate represents 90% of their funding for broadband connectivity. If the FCC eliminates, or even diminishes, E-Rate support, it could reduce internet access and lead to cuts in local schools. Such an action would also likely violate federal law as the program was established by Congress.

The FCC's E-Rate program was approved by Congress in 1996 and has ensured that schools and libraries have access to internet and other telecommunications services at discounted rates. In their comment letter, Raoul and the attorneys general note that state and local school districts would bear the cost of expanding and maintaining broadband infrastructure if the FCC were to eliminate E-Rate.

This federal support is vital in rural and urban communities in Illinois. For example, East St. Louis School District 189 has received $1.85 million in E-Rate support over the past five years. According to Chicago Public Schools (CPS), approximately 100,000 students, roughly one third of the district's total student population, lack high-speed internet access at home. Reduction or elimination of E-Rate support will result in reduced access to online learning resources, increase challenges in maintaining existing technology infrastructure and widen disparities and educational outcomes between affluent and less affluent school districts.

In August, the FCC solicited comments on potential changes to the E-Rate program, including potentially eliminating the program altogether. The coalition's comment letter argues that the E-Rate program was created by Congress, and it would be illegal for the FCC to eliminate it unilaterally. The FCC is also considering conditioning school funding on educational policies. For example, the FCC asked for comment on whether it could condition funding on a school's educational outcomes. This is far beyond the authority of the FCC and would be illegal.

Raoul was joined in submitting the comment letter by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.