What’s at stake
A proven program faces its biggest threat.
E-Rate is the fifth largest stream of federal funding in the nation’s schools. It is the only federal education technology program, and over nearly 30 years it has consistently, effectively and responsibly supported connectivity for schools and libraries in every one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. In June 2026 the FCC opened a rulemaking that asks whether it should continue.
What you need to know
E-Rate helps schools and libraries access the affordable broadband that supports the connectivity and network modern buildings need to carry on the important work of serving students and patrons.
$17.3M committed · 25 public school districts and the shared regional networkSee it on the interactive map →E-Rate is a proven program that has single-handedly transformed internet access in classrooms. The program has a long track record of success and enjoys strong bi-partisan support on Capitol Hill. The FCC’s review is expansive and asks more than 100 questions about the program, its future, and its structure.
Read a summary of the FCC’s NPRM (PDF) →How you can engage
Here’s everything you need to know about WHY your voice matters, HOW to craft your response, and WHERE to file it with the FCC.
Comments are due October 13, 2026Read our Call to Action (PDF) →We are fielding a lot of questions as members work through the proposal and begin writing their comments. We have some answers!
Read our FAQ for more information (PDF) →The summary, Call to Action and FAQ are published by AASA, The School Superintendents Association and the Association of Educational Service Agencies, co-branded with the Pennsylvania Digital Trust Hub and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. Read the AASA blog →
Where the money goes
Two categories. One connected classroom.
E-Rate funds arrive in two forms. Category 1 pays for the broadband circuits that reach the building — including the region's shared wide-area network. Category 2 pays for the Wi-Fi and switching that carry it to every desk. Intermediate Unit 1's schools depend on both.1
Annual E-Rate commitments across Intermediate Unit 1
FY2026 is still open — its lighter bar shows partial-year commitments to date. All 25 public districts across Fayette, Washington & Greene counties plus the IU1 RWAN Connected consortium, funding years 2016–2026. Committed federal share, de-duplicated to the funding-request level. Source: USAC Open Data.
Support that follows need
The less a district can afford, the more E-Rate provides.
E-Rate scales its support to a district's share of economically disadvantaged students, so the region's least-resourced districts draw the deepest support: 12 of 25 districts qualify at the maximum 90% rate — Uniontown, Ringgold, and Albert Gallatin among them — and 21 of 25 at 80% or above.2 Southwestern Pennsylvania's coal and mill towns are exactly the kind of communities E-Rate was built to reach — which is why a proposal to sunset the program outright would fall hardest here, ending this support for every district at once.3
See every Intermediate Unit 1 district by discount rate
Coordinated by IU1
A shared regional network: the IU1 RWAN Connected Consortium.
Intermediate Unit 1 coordinates RWAN Connected — a regional wide area network (RWAN) whose six participating entities, public school districts and career & technical centers, share connectivity across Fayette, Washington, and Greene counties. Through the consortium, IU1 delivers internet connectivity, WAN connectivity between sites, firewall and network security, and DDoS protection — the secure, reliable backbone that daily operations, instructional technology, and digital learning depend on. $3.26M in connectivity funding flows through the consortium's Billed Entity Number (17001612).4
This is exactly the regional coordination the NPRM would undercut — the mechanism that lets a largely rural three-county region share one resilient, secure backbone that private carriers have little reason to build out on their own.
The receipts
What E-Rate delivered, district by district.
Lifetime E-Rate commitments, funding years 2016–2026, for all 25 public districts in Fayette, Washington & Greene counties.1 The 90% badge marks maximum-discount, highest-need districts.
Select any district name to see it highlighted on the interactive map.
| District | Category 1 | Category 2 | Total funded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uniontown Area 90% | $1.8M | $374K | $2.2M |
| Ringgold 90% | $1.1M | $736K | $1.8M |
| Albert Gallatin Area 90% | $859K | $728K | $1.6M |
| Trinity Area | $549K | $542K | $1.1M |
| Canon-McMillan | $665K | $301K | $966K |
| Connellsville Area 90% | $632K | $303K | $935K |
| Laurel Highlands 90% | $498K | $394K | $892K |
| Washington 90% | $283K | $399K | $682K |
| McGuffey | $343K | $244K | $587K |
| Bethlehem-Center 90% | $163K | $143K | $306K |
| Charleroi | $13K | $275K | $288K |
| Frazier 90% | $60K | $219K | $279K |
| Southeastern Greene 90% | $217K | $49K | $266K |
| Central Greene | $221K | $43K | $264K |
| Fort Cherry | $87K | $172K | $259K |
| Carmichaels Area 90% | $89K | $160K | $248K |
| Brownsville Area | $13K | $235K | $248K |
| California Area 90% | $48K | $173K | $221K |
| Peters Township | $90K | $129K | $219K |
| Bentworth | $10K | $198K | $208K |
| Avella Area | $76K | $113K | $189K |
| Jefferson-Morgan | $13K | $161K | $174K |
| West Greene 90% | $20K | $59K | $79K |
| Chartiers-Houston | $12K | $43K | $55K |
| Burgettstown Area | $11K | $43K | $54K |
All 25 IU1 districts shown. Figures are USAC-committed federal amounts, de-duplicated to the funding-request level (one commitment per request, not per school served). Consortium (RWAN) commitments are reported separately above.
See it on the map
See Intermediate Unit 1 on the map.
Every district’s E-Rate funding, drawn straight from USAC’s public data. Hover or tap any district for its Category 1 and 2 totals, discount rate, and USAC urban/rural label.
See the shared network on the statewide mapIU 1 RWAN Consortium — 15 districts →
Your voice is needed — now
Take action to protect E-Rate.
The FCC’s comment period on Docket 26-133 closes October 13, 2026 — a narrow window to show the Commission and Congress what these changes would cost our schools. Here are three ways to help, in the order that matters most.
Sign on with the Digital Trust Hub
Add your district or organization to our coalition standing up for E-Rate. One signature adds your name to the comment we file with the FCC on Docket 26-133 and to our coalition’s letters to lawmakers.
Sign your district on →Write your own comment to the FCC
Your own comment is counted separately from ours, and the Commission weighs individual, evidence-based comments far more heavily than identical form letters. Our partners at AASA (The School Superintendents Association) have a guided tool that turns your words and your organization’s real E-Rate figures into a comment ready to file.
Figures in the builder cover FY2021–25; this page covers FY2016–26. Both are USAC data — they count different years.
Build your FCC comment →Tell Congress to protect E-Rate
Reach out directly to your lawmakers. Our partners at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) have a one-click tool that finds your U.S. Senators and Representative and sends them your message.
Contact Congress now →Your Pennsylvania delegation
The tool routes to your exact offices automatically. For Fayette, Washington, and Greene counties that means your two U.S. Senators — Sen. John Fetterman and Sen. Dave McCormick — and your U.S. Representative, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (PA‑14).
Short on words? Use this template for Step 3 ↓
Make it local: find your district on the region map and drop your own numbers into the letter — a message grounded in your district’s figures lands hardest.
Sources
The data behind this page.
Every figure on this page comes from USAC's public federal E-Rate Open Data, funding years 2016–2026. Each source is linked below. How we pulled and de-duplicated this data →
- E-Rate funding committed to the region. The federal share of Funded requests for the 25 Intermediate Unit 1 districts and the IU1-coordinated RWAN Connected consortium — $17.3M, FY2016–2026.
- Discount rates & student need. Category 1/2 discount rates and the school-level free/reduced-lunch (NSLP) percentages that set them, plus full-time enrollment (~48,000 students).
- Urban / rural classification. USAC's urban/rural status for each funded service — 18 of 25 districts Rural (59% of district funding), reflecting the region's small-town and rural character.
- IU1 RWAN Connected Consortium. Connectivity committed under the consortium's Billed Entity Number (17001612) — the IU1-coordinated shared regional wide-area network ($3.26M, 26 funding requests).
- Target universe & Billed Entity Numbers. The 25 IU1 (Intermediate Unit 1) member districts across Fayette, Washington, and Greene counties and the IU1 RWAN Connected consortium — each entity's Billed Entity Number confirmed against USAC's public entity records.USAC entity lookup 7i5i-83qf ↗
- Proposed FCC rule changes. Summarized from the member advocacy update by the Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA) — with the School Superintendents Association (AASA), the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO), and the National Rural Education Association (NREA) — on the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) reviewing the E-Rate program.
- Consortium membership. The RWAN consortium's member districts, from USAC's Form 470 consortium-entity records.
