In a vote of 53-47 Thursday, the Senate approved a Resolution of Disapproval which seeks to overrule the Federal Communications Commission’s regulation that allow E-Rate funds to be used for Wi-Fi hotspots. The regulation allows schools and libraries to use E-Rate for the purchase of Wi-Fi hotspot devices, which are then loaned out to teachers and students. Critics say the use of E-Rate funds for hotspots goes beyond the scope of authority provided by Congress under the E-Rate program because it subsidizes internet access outside of school campuses, undermining parents’ ability to control access to content for their children. However, the rule does require grantees to use software that filters out inappropriate content.
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), one of E-Rate’s original authors, criticized the move in conversations with reporters. “This resolution won’t save any money, but it will cost our country dearly in lost opportunity,” he said. “It undermines years of progress closing the Homework Gap and turns our backs on children who simply want to learn and thrive.”
The resolution, which has been brought under the Congressional Review Act, needs to be passed by the House and signed by the President before it could take effect. If it is signed into law, it would strike the regulations and prohibit the FCC from ever issuing “substantially similar” regulations on the same legislative text – effectively impeding the agency’s ability to implement similar programs in the future, unless the underlying statute is significantly reworked.
A letter sent to Congress Tuesday from advocacy groups including the School Superintendents Association and the National Rural Education Association urged Senators to vote no on the measure, saying it “would prevent millions of students and library patrons across the country from obtaining internet access.”
The advocates’ letter on the E-Rate rule is here.
