Cybersecurity has soared to the top of most districts’ top tech concerns. But IT leaders can’t use an important source of federal funding, E-rate, to cover the increasing costs of protecting district data.
E-rate is a vital source of funding for Wi-Fi hotspots and other technologies that help bridge the digital divide. Yet, cyber threats continue to cause headaches for school-based IT professionals who say they’d like E-rate to be expanded to strengthen their defenses.
That’s according to Funds for Learning’s annual E-rate Trends Report, a national survey that sheds light on how the program impacts learning in K12 schools and libraries.
For instance, one Illinois school district surveyed expressed concerns about rising cybersecurity costs. “Spending on cybersecurity is approaching 10% of our overall budget, particularly on services and solutions, and we still do not feel we have adequate tools to meet demands,” the quote reads. “Some funding relief would allow us to allocate more money to student learning, where it truly belongs.”
Another respondent from a Wisconsin district said E-rate could help improve preventative measures. “Cybersecurity is increasingly becoming a greater part of our budgeted dollars, and we could definitely use E-rate dollars to support our endpoint protection, network monitoring, firewalls and filtering.”
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These concerns come as the Federal Communications Commission, the government agency responsible for allocating E-rate funds, is launching a Cybersecurity Pilot Program, which will provide up to $200 million to selected participants over three years to pay for cybersecurity services and equipment.
Survey takers were also asked what kinds of cybersecurity services they’d prioritize if eligible for the pilot program. Here’s what they said:
- Intrusion detection/prevention (87%)
- Cybersecurity education and training (83%)
- Content/malware filtering and DNS security (81%)
- Next-generation firewalls (79%)
- Endpoint security (74%)
- Multi-factor authentication (60%)
As for E-rate itself, respondents call for its expansion to cover a variety of other services beyond cybersecurity, including:
- Dual/spare/failover internet
- Telephone service
- Network security and network management goods and services
- Voice over IP networking equipment
Read the full survey here to learn more about how schools are spending E-rate funds this school year.
