The days of school bus Wi-Fi equipment and connectivity as internet technology eligible for federal E-Rate reimbursement could be numbered if new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr gets his way.
At the urging of Carr, the FCC updated its agenda Tuesday for its Sept. 30 open meeting to include reconsideration of a 2023 declaratory ruling “that would align E-Rate eligibility with section 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and make school bus Wi-Fi an ineligible expense. FCC is also reconsidering the federal school hotspot program and is essentially trying to revoke all E-Rate funding for off-campus internet connectivity for students, which advocates say disproportionately affects low-income and rural students.
The tentative open meeting agenda released Sept. 9 did not list school bus Wi-Fi or hotspots.
Carr expressed his intent earlier this month to end federal reimbursements for school bus Wi-Fi. Normally the FCC seats five commissioners but currently only has three: Carr is joined by fellow Republican Olivia Trusty, who was confirmed by the Senate earlier this year, and Anna Gomez, a Democrat.
Gomez was one of three votes in 2023 to pass then-Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel’s Learning Without Limits, which included the school bus Wi-Fi eligibility. Following a 2024 FCC order to expand the Universal Service program to fund hotspots outside of schools and libraries, school districts were allowed to apply and be selected for reimbursements. Carr was also a commissioner at the time and cast a no vote.
He contends the initiative illegally extended the Emergency Connectivity Fund passed by Congress to provide for federal funding of school bus Wi-Fi for neighborhood hotspots during the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdowns for children needing to access virtual classes and complete homework.
Learning Without Limits intended to “close the homework gap” between areas of the country where students have access to and can afford broadband internet with economically disadvantaged and rural communities that do not and cannot.
Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, a Democrat, is one of the original authors of the E-Rate program.
“Rolling back the FCC’s hotspot rule is a direct attack on students and educators who need Wi-Fi to complete homework assignments, create lesson plans, and connect with each other,” he said in an email to School Transportation News Friday. “This move is short-sighted and cruel. It saves no money and only makes life harder for millions of Americans. We should be expanding connections, not cutting them off, and I will fight to keep every child, family and library online.”
Further frustrating school bus Wi-Fi and off-campus hotspot supporters, the FCC only gave one week notice of the meeting agenda change and did not allow for public comment. Joey Wender, executive director of the Schools Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, said the fate of internet access for students “should not be rushed through,” pointing out school districts nationwide have already made purchasing plans under the assumption federal funding would be available going forward.
“We believe FCC should provide ample notice of any changes and for stakeholders to comment, tell their stories, and share their data,” he added.
Echoing Sen. Ted Cruz, the leading opponent of E-Rate for school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots in Congress, Carr asserts that school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots were never meant to be E-Rate eligible expenses. Advocates argue that with Congress left open for interpretation section 254(c)(1) of the Communications Act, reauthorized in 1996 to add Universal Service as the mechanism that funds internet service for schools, libraries and health care providers, the definition of what an elementary school and secondary school, along with libraries, for where Wi-Fi and internet connections can be established and reimbursed.
“Congress deliberately left the term classroom undefined in the Telecommunications Act because it understood that students learn in many different settings, both inside and outside of traditional school buildings,” commented Keith Krueger, executive director of the Consortium of School Networking. “That flexibility has always been a strength of the E-Rate program, allowing it to adapt as learning environments change.”
He also noted the federal law refers to “an evolving level of services.”
“From that perspective, school bus Wi-Fi is consistent with the program’s purpose. It is simply one of the modern settings where students do their work,” he added.
During a keynote address at the 2024 STN EXPO West, Krueger told the audience the FCC estimates between 8.5 million and 16 million school children nationwide lack broadband internet at home.
Wender noted FCC supports internet connectivity reimbursed by E-Rate for administrative offices and book mobiles that extend to parking lots, and school bus Wi-Fi is an even better use-case.
FCC’s Carr and Gomez as well as Sen. Cruz had not responded to questions posed by STN at this report.
But Carr and Cruz have publicly stated that school bus Wi-Fi is poses a safety issue for students using it, with Cruz likening it to TikTok for school children.
However, E-Rate requires all funded communications devices comply with the Child Internet Protection Act. School bus Wi-Fi services must include filters that, in conjunction with closed school district networks, prohibit students from accessing unapproved sites and logs when and where the attempts occur.
In a 2023 announcement of the All Eyes on Board Act to combat FCC voting to allow school bus Wi-Fi, Cruz along with Sens. Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina and Shelley Capito of West Virginia acknowledged CIPA regulations but added “there is currently no provision requiring schools to block access to distracting and addictive social media apps or websites. As a result, the E-Rate program risks inadvertently enabling access to social media in schools,” though state laws do exist requiring the sites be blocked.
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Earlier this month, Sen. Cruz encouraged the House to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn what he called “the illegal Biden hotspot rule.” In May, he led a similar CRA through the Senate, where it passed to end federal funding of external hotspot devices some school districts send home with their students. But so far, Cruz has not garnered sufficient votes in the House to consolidate and pass a final CRA, which would be needed for President Trump’s signature into law.
Cruz has also said there are existing FCC programs that could fund school bus Wi-Fi, but he has not provided specifics.
Commented Wender, “I cannot speak to the intentions of policy makers. I can only speak to the consequences of ending the [school bus Wi-Fi] program, which is widening the digital divide resulting in low-income kids not being able to do their homework.”
Still, there’s hope, he said. Wender called FCC action “the lesser of two evils” because a future commission could reverse a decision and reinstate E-Rate reimbursement. The passage of a CRA would be more permanent.
Tuesday’s FCC open meeting will be live streamed.
This is a developing story.
