The High Stakes of E-Rate: What Los Angeles Just Lost and Why America Can’t Afford to Follow

The Los Angeles County Library has recently announced the abrupt end of its long-running laptop lending program.

For many Angelenos, these laptops were more than convenient; they were a lifeline.

Yet due to steep cuts and administrative complications tied to E-Rate funding, the program could no longer be sustained, and thousands of residents who relied on the service have been left stranded in a digital desert.

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The decision should serve as a national wake-up call.

When Congress created the E-Rate program in 1996, the goal was transformative but straightforward: ensure that every community could access the internet through its local schools and libraries.

Nearly three decades later, that mandate is still vital. Libraries remain one of the few places where anyone can access the internet for free, without any questions asked. But today, E-Rate is not being treated as the essential infrastructure program it is, and families across the country are feeling the consequences.

Political leaders often discuss the “digital divide,” but libraries witness it firsthand every day. In Los Angeles, as in much of the country, the divide is drawn sharply along lines of race, income, age, and immigration status. For many families (especially those living in neighborhoods where internet service can cost $100 a month or more), logging on at the library is the only viable way to complete homework, apply for jobs, communicate with government services, or participate in modern public life.

The loss of library funding is crippling libraries across the country.

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The L.A. County Library’s laptop program was built to close that gap. Patrons could check out a device the way they would a book and use it at home to stay connected. It was flexible, dignified, and effective.

Without E-Rate support, however, even an extensive library system like Los Angeles cannot maintain enough devices, hotspots, and connectivity to meet demand. E-Rate sustained the entire architecture of public digital access. It wasn’t just supporting faster Wi-Fi inside branch buildings. When Congress lets it erode, real people lose real opportunities.

E-Rate has long been one of the few federal initiatives that consistently earned cross-party support. Why? Because it works. It delivers high-speed broadband infrastructure to every corner of the country, from the smallest rural library to the largest urban system. It helps local budgets stretch further. It fuels economic growth. It supports education, telehealth, small business development, workforce training, and civic participation.

And it does all this with rigorous oversight, transparent cost-sharing, and data that consistently shows high return on investment.

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Consider the ripple effects in Los Angeles:

• Students now lose reliable access to homework tools. Teachers already report that assignments increasingly require internet research, document creation, and digital submission. Cutting access punishes low-income young people for circumstances outside their control.

• Job seekers lose essential tools. Many workers used library laptops to apply for positions, upload resumes, or participate in virtual interviews.

• Immigrants and seniors lose access to digital government services. From citizenship applications to Medi-Cal renewals, nearly everything has moved online.

• Small businesses lose entry points. Entrepreneurs used these devices to file permits, build websites, and meet clients remotely.

This is not a theoretical loss. These are thousands of missed opportunities that will echo across the workforce, education pipeline, and civic landscape of Los Angeles for years.

That's why, as a member of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, the EveryLibrary Institute strongly has urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to maintain funding for school bus Wi-Fi and hotspot lending under the E-Rate program.