This is the guiding principle that preserves the free and open internet. Net neutrality means that internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online. It guarantees a level playing field for all websites and internet technologies. But all that could change. Last week the Federal Communications Commission voted to accept a new net neutrality proposal offered by Chairman Tom Wheeler and open up the proposal for public comment. While the proposal does ban internet providers from blocking or slowing down access to websites, there is wiggle room that would allow internet providers to charge companies for faster and more reliable delivery of their traffic to users. The concern is that this would create "fast lanes" for companies that pay up and mean slower traffic for others, with a net effect of squelching free speech on the internet for average Americans.

This is of particular concern now that premium broadband for schools is more important than ever with states taking on new online assessments. It could also restrict the ability of schools and colleges to perform and research, to collaborate and to provide students with the best access to information and the best opportunities to learn. While there is a 60-day period in which to file comments to this rulemaking, the FCC has already received over 30,000 comments in 4 days. We are monitoring this closely while still continuing to advocate for the modernization of E-Rate to include a cap raise. Originally we expected the FCC to issue an order on E-Rate Modernization this month. But given the increased activity and attention being devoted to net neutrality, the order is not expected until July or August.

A picture is worth a 1,000 words. The following information was provided in a recent webinar on NAEP Sampling. It quantifies the percentage of public, Catholic and other private schools that participated in Mathematics and Reading testing for 2013. Unfortunately, there is no reportable Catholic School data for grade 12 from this testing because a participation level of 70% or more of the population is required to conduct a fair and accurate sampling. The categories of no reportable data are highlighted in red below:

In evaluating your school's participation in the upcoming 2015 NAEP, please consider the following:

1. NAEP data has consistently shown that Catholic school students score higher than the national average across all subjects.

2. Not participating is a missed opportunity to tell the Catholic school success story. We need and rely on data to tell this story on Capitol Hill. Members of Congress and their staff use it to convince their colleagues to support their initiatives in support of Catholic schools.

3. NAEP tests are now administered by NAEP personnel and the tests only take 50 minutes (in two 25-minute blocks).