The FCC is considering killing a $2 billion annual program that funds internet access for schools and libraries.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr pushed through a 2-1 vote to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking targeting E-Rate, a Universal Service Fund program that has for decades subsidized telecom services and equipment for educational institutions. Carr's stated rationale: students have too much screen time. "Over the last decade, school districts across the country experimented with a massive increase in screen time for students," he said at the meeting. The NPRM opens a public comment period before any final rule change.
E-Rate is one of the few federal programs with a direct, measurable impact on connectivity gaps between wealthy and low-income districts. Cutting or scaling it back would disproportionately hit schools that cannot afford to fund broadband access on their own — which is most of them. The screen time framing is worth noting: it re-casts an infrastructure subsidy as a parenting issue, which is a useful rhetorical move if you want to eliminate a program without sounding like you oppose education.
The vote drew immediate criticism, and the 2-1 split signals the decision is not a consensus view even within the commission itself.