Allegheny Intermediate Unit joined a national coalition of school, library and education-technology leaders at the Federal Communications Commission to meet with Commissioner Olivia Trusty and her staff about the Commission’s review of the federal E-Rate program (WC Docket No. 26-133).
The group included the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN); AASA, The School Superintendents Association; the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition; the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA); Loudoun County Public Schools; the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System; and Curriculum Associates.
Participants described how connectivity underpins nearly everything schools and libraries do, from instruction and assessment to transportation, building security, student health services and emergency communications. They urged the Commission to keep the question of reliable connectivity separate from the question of how educators and local communities decide to use technology to improve learning.
Richard Platts, CETL, AIU’s Chief Technology Officer, who leads the Pennsylvania Digital Trust Hub, spoke from the perspective of a regional education service agency that runs a shared network for dozens of school systems. His remarks, as delivered, follow.
Remarks of Richard Platts, CETL
Good morning, Commissioner Trusty. I’m Richard Platts, Chief Technology Officer at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, an education service agency serving 42 school districts in the Pittsburgh region.
I also lead the Pennsylvania Digital Trust Hub, helping schools across the state select safe, secure, curriculum-aligned technology for teaching and learning.
Commissioner Trusty, I share the concern you expressed in your statement: we should take seriously the effects of screen use on children. Schools should be thoughtful about when technology improves learning and when it doesn't.
But, it's important to distinguish screen time from instructional technology. A student passively consuming content is fundamentally different from one collaborating with classmates, conducting research, or using an accessibility tool.
And the state and local action you highlighted demonstrates where those decisions are best made: by educators, families, school boards, and states. We should absolutely ask whether technology is being used well, but E-Rate should not be put in the position of regulating instructional decisions.
From where I sit, E-Rate is so much more than assistance with an Internet bill.
At the AIU, we operate Allegheny Connect, a 47-member regional network serving approximately 115,000 students and their teachers. E-Rate enables those school systems to pool purchasing power and technical resources to provide reliable, high-speed connectivity for teaching and learning.
And connectivity doesn’t end where the Internet enters the building. E-Rate supports the wired and wireless infrastructure needed to connect buildings and reliably serve thousands of students and teachers simultaneously.
That shared-service model is repeated across Pennsylvania and across the country. E-Rate creates conditions for schools to work together, stretch these investments further, and be responsible stewards of the public dollars entrusted to us.
After nearly 30 years, schools are connected today in significant part because E-Rate worked. But its success should not be mistaken for evidence that its work is finished.
The recent cybersecurity pilot recognizes one of the most urgent examples. A growing gulf exists between the threats facing schools and the resources many have to defend against them. The same collaborative models E-Rate helped build around connectivity may offer part of the answer.
E-Rate has adapted alongside the technology schools depend upon. That responsiveness is a strength of the program, not a reason to declare its mission complete.
So I would urge the Commission to preserve E-Rate as a strong, nationwide program.
Do not eliminate or reduce support for schools.
Do not restrict E-Rate only to rural communities.
And do not condition connectivity funding on federally imposed screen-time requirements.
For nearly 30 years, E-Rate has helped schools solve connectivity challenges together. The challenges are changing—but the need for E-Rate is not.
The public record. The coalition’s notice of ex parte presentation was filed with the FCC on September 17, 2026, in WC Docket No. 26-133.
What’s next
Comments in the docket are due October 13, 2026. Here’s how your district can be heard.