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E-rate Commentary

John Harrington, CEMP
by John Harrington
December 11, 2025

Guiding Principles for a Season of Change

In the past several months, my work has taken me from government filings to strategy sessions, from deep dives into data to conversations with technology leaders. Different rooms, different roles,...
Funds For Learning
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John Harrington, CEMP
by John Harrington
December 4, 2025

What E-rate Applicants Are Telling Us About FY2026 and Why It Matters Right Now

The 2025 E-rate Trends Report offers one of the clearest pictures yet of what schools and libraries are experiencing as they prepare for the next funding cycle. With 1,329 respondents...
Applicant FCC Service Provider Trends Report USAC
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John Harrington, CEMP
by John Harrington
December 4, 2025

Why We Do the Trends Report Every Year

For more than a decade, we have published an annual study that captures the voices of school and library leaders across the United States. It is called the E-rate Trends...
FCC Funds For Learning USAC
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John Harrington, CEMP
by John Harrington
November 20, 2025

When Rules Meet the Mission

Leaders live in the tension between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Policies and procedures exist for good reasons. So does judgment. Recently I faced...
Funds For Learning
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John Harrington, CEMP
by John Harrington
November 20, 2025

Plan Now: New Category Two Budgets and EPC Updates

USAC has begun preparing for the next Category Two (C2) budget cycle, and applicants should do the same. The November 18 E-Rate News Brief notes that the C2 Budget Tool...
Applicant Category 2 Service Provider
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John Harrington, CEMP
by John Harrington
November 13, 2025

Keep Your Cool: The Case for a Calming Presence

Pressure exposes our habits. When the stakes rise, we either steady the room, or spike it. At Funds For Learning we call the steady version a calming presence: keeping perspective,...
Funds For Learning
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John Harrington, CEMP
by John Harrington
November 13, 2025

E-rate Operations Continue as FCC Prepares to Reopen

As the federal government ends its record-length shutdown and agencies resume operations, E-rate program operations have remained steady and uninterrupted. While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suspended most of its...
Applicant FCC Service Provider USAC
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John Harrington, CEMP
by John Harrington
November 5, 2025

E-rate and the Federal Shutdown: What Schools and Libraries Need to Know

Introduction The federal government shutdown has renewed questions across the education community: Will E-rate funding be delayed? Could application reviews or payments be disrupted? While headlines focus on political gridlock...
FCC Funds For Learning USAC
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