FCC review could scale back or end internet discounts for school districts

The Federal Communications Commission, which oversees the E-rate program Congress created 30 years ago, has launched a “top-to-bottom” evaluation that has leaders of the nation’s school districts on edge. The FCC is collecting views on how the program should be reformed, or even whether it should be abandoned because it “has fulfilled” its mission. In addition to asking whether the benefit should be restricted to rural districts, the agency links E-Rate to present-day concerns over screen time. Comments are due Oct. 13 and replies are due Nov. 12. The proposal is “aimed at empowering parents and ensuring that our E-Rate program produces the great educational outcomes stakeholders have intended,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in June when he announced the review. In Project 2025, the far-right Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for the Trump administration, Carr said that due to advancements in technology, decisions about the program “should be made with an eye to right-sizing the federal government’s existing broadband initiatives.” The review process has left ed tech leaders both confused and ready to fight. “They’re asking us to comment on a potential rulemaking and they haven’t told us what the rules would be,” said Keith Krueger, chief executive of the Consortium for School Networking, a leading ed tech professional organization. He called the initial 70 pages of questions the FCC released “so extraordinarily broad and comprehensive” that they’re too overwhelming for the average district leader to address. “We’re going to have to be very loud and noisy as a community to our members of Congress and to governors to say ‘hands off the E-Rate.’”