FCC launches sweeping review of $3B school internet subsidy program over screen time concerns

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Wednesday it is launching a sweeping review of its school internet subsidy E-Rate program, citing concerns that increased screen time in schools may be contributing to declining academic performance.

The E-Rate program provides roughly $3 billion annually in discounts for internet access and related connectivity services for eligible schools and libraries.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called the review necessary at a time when screen time use has surged at schools across the nation, particularly since COVID.

He told Fox News Digital that the increased use may be leading to poor educational outcomes, citing an advisory issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this year.

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"We're now starting to see research pour in that is associating excessive screen time in schools and for students with exceptionally poor academic outcomes," Carr said. "We're seeing really poor performance across the country on reading, on math skills, on cognitive development."

Carr said the review is also intended to empower parents who may have little awareness of how technology is being used in their children's classroom.

"I think parents provide a lot of great oversight when kids are using technology and screens inside the home, but that level of parental oversight goes away when your kid is at school," he said. "I think there's many, many parents that do not have insight into what their kids are doing when they're spending hours with screens in schools."

"So that is part of the FCC's proceeding is to look at how do we empower parents and make sure that they know what's happening with these connections that are funded by this federal program," Carr continued.

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Carr said the FCC wants to ensure the E-Rate program is supporting "positive, good educational outcomes, not distractions or poor performance." He said the agency is conducting a "top to bottom review" of the program and remains open to a range of possible reforms.

The review is building upon actions taken in Congress and in school districts across the nation to reduce screen time and return to more "classical approaches" to education, Carr said.

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He said the review could ultimately lead to new guardrails for the program, transparency requirements or funding changes, or other reforms designed to ensure federally subsidized internet services align with what he described as the "best science" on educational outcomes.

The FCC is scheduled to vote June 25 on whether to formally open the review and seek public comment on potential changes to the program.

The FCC's review comes as national academic performance remains a major concern. According to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation's Report Card, 12th-graders' math and reading scores have hit record lows, continuing a years-long decline.