// ARS TECHNICA — MOBILE & WEB
Schools across US protest FCC plan that could disconnect kids from Internet
FCC chair threatens E-Rate fund, blames schools for kids’ excessive screen time.
Schools and libraries from around the US pleaded with the Federal Communications Commission to drop the idea of ending E-Rate, a $2 billion-a-year program that connects students and library visitors to the Internet.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has criticized school districts for having “experimented with a massive increase in screen time for students,” and said E-Rate expanded too far beyond its original purpose of “supporting basic Internet access to schools and libraries for educational purposes.” In June, Carr led a 2-1 vote to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking public comment on whether E-Rate should be “limited or sunset to reflect today’s extensive connectivity rates.”
Carr’s proposal could result in E-Rate cutting the discounts that schools and libraries receive for telecom services and equipment, and imposing more restrictions on how E-Rate money can be used. The FCC seeking comment on whether to sunset the program also raises the possibility that Carr might choose to axe E-Rate entirely.
The National Association of Elementary School Principals told the FCC that it “strongly supports the continued operation of the E-Rate program and urges the Commission to reject proposals that would eliminate, substantially restrict, or impose new conditions on this essential source of connectivity assistance for schools and libraries.”
The Carr FCC already scaled E-Rate back last year by ending funding for schools and libraries to lend out Wi-Fi hotspots and for Wi-Fi service on school buses.
The FCC docket received comments this week opposing the proposal from state and national associations, and from many individual schools and libraries. The American Library Association told the FCC that E-Rate is working as Congress intended it to when it passed the 1996 telecommunications law that resulted in E-Rate’s creation.
“Importantly, the FCC does not have the authority to terminate the E-Rate program. The E-Rate program is mandated by Congress, and the FCC is responsible for administering it,” the national library group said.
If Carr goes through with eliminating E-Rate, he may argue that its original mission has been completed and that the FCC therefore has authority to end it.
“In establishing the program in 1996, Congress was addressing a specific problem: limited access to advanced telecommunications and Internet services in schools and libraries,” Carr’s proposal said. “Given the substantial expansion of broadband access in schools and libraries over the last three decades, we seek comment on whether and to what extent the E-Rate program has fulfilled that mission and whether continued funding is consistent with Congress’s original objective.”