Public schools and libraries across the United States could face steep increases in the prices they pay for internet service, following a review being launched by the Federal Communications Commission.<\/p>\n
More than 100,000 schools and 11,000 libraries rely on the program known as E-Rate, which has provided discounts of between 20% and 90% for three decades, thanks to a 1996 law passed by Congress that mandates telecom providers subsidize universal access.<\/p>\n
About 47 million students and library patrons depend on this access for connectivity, according to the Congressional Research Service.<\/p>\n
A program called E-Rate has helped expand public internet access for 30 years. As the Federal Communications Commission challenges whether the subsidies are still needed, schools and libraries say cuts could leave them with hard choices.<\/p>\n
But in a notice for public comment filed this week, the FCC cited increased concern about the impact excessive screen time is having on children and suggested that it might be time to end subsidies for school- and library-based broadband and Wi-Fi services.<\/p>\n
The commission also said the internet is so widely available that subsidies might no longer be necessary. \u201cAt what point should policymakers conclude that the program\u2019s core objective has been achieved?\u201d it asked.<\/p>\n
The move is vigorously opposed by the School Superintendents Association and the American Library Association, which implored its members to weigh in. \u201cIf funding is eliminated or reduced, libraries across the country could face difficult choices between maintaining internet access and funding other essential services,\u201d the library association said in an email blast to its members.<\/p>\n
Jamar Rahming, CEO of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, a 27-branch system outside Cleveland, says a reduction of subsidies could jeopardize digital access that allows residents to apply for jobs, join telehealth medical appointments, and video chat with relatives overseas.<\/p>\n
The change could also imperil library programs that train workers in the use of artificial intelligence, which have become critical in a region hard-hit by the loss of blue-collar jobs, Mr. Rahming says.<\/p>\n
Roughly 250 miles away in Lansing, Michigan, Sheryl Knox, the technology director of the Capital Area District Libraries, a 14-branch system that serves 244,000 people in both urban and rural areas, said a rollback of subsidies could lead her system to cut back on mobile hot spots that allow residents without high-speed internet to watch streaming movies and listen to audiobooks at home.<\/p>\n
Changes could also raise administrative costs. \u201cEverything runs through the internet,\u201d Ms. Knox says, \u201call patron records, the library catalogue, when someone places a hold that\u2019s on our server. If we have to pay more for that, it\u2019s less for everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The $2.5 billion in annual support provided to schools and libraries is covered by fees paid by telecommunications companies.<\/p>\n
The subsidy has long been a target of President Trump\u2019s inner circle. Last year, the America First Legal Foundation, founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, filed an amicus brief in a failed legal challenge that asked the Supreme Court to rule E-Rate unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
In The Heritage Foundation\u2019s Project 2025, widely viewed to be the Trump administration\u2019s policy framework, now-FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wrote it was time to \u201cend wasteful broadband spending policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Innovations such as low-orbit satellite services from StarLink and Amazon\u00a0\u201ccounsel in favor of eliminating many of the heavy-handed FCC regulations,\u201d Mr. Carr wrote, in a chapter that targeted \u201cuniversal service requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n