Senate Democrats sent a letter to the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to urge the continuation of subsidies that fund hot spots at schools and WiFi on school buses.
The letter focuses on FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s desire to eliminate the use of E-rate funds to allow schools and librarians to provide hot spots to educators and students and abolish the use of E-rate funds that have been used to provide WiFi on school buses.
“Rolling back the E-Rate hotspot and school bus decisions would undercut some of the most effective tools for addressing inequities in home connectivity and would reverse progress in closing the ‘Homework Gap.’ For millions of students, especially those from low-income households, internet access outside of school walls is not a luxury but a prerequisite for academic success,” said the letter led by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
The expansion of the E-rate program has provided $68 million to boost connectivity in schools, according to a press release by Markey.
The senators argue Carr did not give the normal three-week notice the public typically gets ahead of votes happening at an open FCC meeting.
The Hill has reached out to the FCC for comment.
“Instead, you abruptly included them on an updated agenda released one week before the September open meeting, depriving members of the public of an opportunity to weigh in on the draft order. This non-transparent, last-minute process on such important matters is unacceptable. The Commission should remove these items from the meeting agenda and follow standard Commission protocol at a future open meeting,” the letter states.
