SHLB Will Work With Carr to Save E-rate Hot Spots Program
John Windhausen, executive director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, said Wednesday his organization is willing to work with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and other Republicans to save a program that lets schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. On tap to lead the FCC next year under President-elect Donald Trump, Carr voted against the E-rate program's creation, as did fellow Republican Nathan Simington (see 2410070028).
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“We would like to engage with Chairman Carr … to recognize the value of this program,” Windhausen said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. SHLB, he added, is open to changes that could accommodate Carr’s concerns. At least for now, the order is in effect and part of the E-rate program's final eligible services list for FY 2025, Windhausen noted. Schools and libraries will apply for funding in early 2025.
“I have enormous respect” for Carr. “He’s very thoughtful, articulate and, as opposed to some other Trump nominees, he’s very qualified,” Windhausen said.
The order “obfuscates parental authority by letting kids check out internet devices for use outside of potentially parental and teacher oversight,” said Annie Chestnut Tutor, Heritage Foundation policy analyst. Students can use the hot spots for homework assignments, but “almost certainly” will use them for entertainment, she said.
“The proposal lacks sufficient limitations on how the hot spots may be used,” Tutor said. “We also were concerned it could lead to excessive spending” and potentially higher USF fees. The FCC “lacks authority” to approve E-rate funds for offsite use. Previously, the Heritage Foundation asked the agency to kill the program (see 2410070028).
Tutor said the Carr-led FCC could end the program once the agency has three Republican commissioners, or through the Congressional Review Act process.
However, webinar speakers said that because the order was approved in June, and published in the Federal Register in July, it’s not clear CRA would apply (see 2411150043). CRA lets Congress issue a joint resolution of disapproval, invalidating an agency's final rule if it was issued up to 60 legislative days before the end of the previous Congress. The CRA window won't be known until Congress adjourns.
All USF programs could be in doubt given a U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision questioning the funding mechanism for the entire program (see 2407260044), noted Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director-advocacy and governance at AASA: The School Superintendents Association. “If that goes an unfavorable way, we won’t even need to answer whether or not the FCC should have done this for E-rate,” she said.
Ng said it’s unclear that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, incoming chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, would support overturning the hot spots program. Ending it “without a backup program in place would be really disruptive,” she said. “I’m not sure that this FCC, or even Congress, wants to disrupt applications that have been submitted in good faith.”
The program will likely continue into next year but will end because of concerns over FCC authority, Tutor argued.
Windhausen said SHLB still hopes the FCC will broaden the program to pay for alternatives that are “functionally equivalent” to commercially available mobile wireless services and Wi-Fi hot spots.
Maurine and Matthew Molak challenged the hot spots order in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court dismissed that case on procedural grounds, in part because the FCC was still addressing petitions for reconsideration of the order (see 2409260046). The Molaks brought the case because they oppose unsupervised social media access on school buses. The Molaks' son David, 16, died by suicide after he was bullied online.
The 5th Circuit recently heard oral argument on a second case the Molaks brought challenging the agency's declaratory ruling last year authorizing E-rate funding for Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2411040061).