The FCC on Wednesday launched a proceeding that seeks to review the agency’s nearly $3 billion E-Rate program to ensure that E-Rate-funded networks are being used to protect America’s children.
Carr said in a statement:
Over the last several years—and especially during COVID—many schools dramatically increased screen time for kids, with many students now swiping for hours every day. Research has now been pouring in that America’s experiment with heightened screen time in schools may be related to the negative educational outcomes we are now seeing in classrooms across the country—from declining academic performance to diminished reading comprehension skills.
“Indeed, a 2026 Advisory from the Trump Administration’s HHS and U.S. Surgeon General catalogs the links between excessive screen time and poor educational outcomes. The important role that technology plays in schools should support learning, not distractions or declining performance.”
The FCC’s E-Rate program grants eligible schools, libraries, and consortia that include eligible schools and libraries, may apply for discounted telecommunications, internet access, and internal connections services.
Wednesday’s notice seeks comment on actions that the E-Rate programs advance student learning outcomes and better protect the online safety of children when using the E-Rate-funded networks and services, noting the elevated level of hours children spend online. It also seeks comment on measures that the FCC would take to ensure that the E-Rate program funds are being spent consistently with the universal service principles established by Congress. Carr continued:
For its part, the FCC has been subsidizing connectivity to and within schools for almost 30 years now—spending roughly $3 billion annually at this point. So, today, I shared with my FCC colleagues a proposal aimed at empowering parents and ensuring that our E-Rate program produces the great educational outcomes stakeholders have intended. We will do so through a smart review of the FCC’s E-Rate program. While parents have the ability to supervise screen use and monitor Internet access at home, that parental control does not extend the same way into their kids’ classrooms and libraries.
The Commission also seeks comment on whether the FCC’s interpretation of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is the best reading of the statute of whether current CIPA requirements sufficiently protect children from inappropriate and harmful content when using school and library computers to access E-Rate-funded networks and services.
The FCC seeks to ensure children’s safety with the use E-Rate-funded networks and services. This comes at a time where many parents are increasingly concerned about children’s safety regarding access to the internet. This includes:
- Nearly 90 percent of American public schools provide children with internet-connected devices for “learning”
- Students waste up to 38 minutes of every hour when on classroom devices
- 26 percent of 13 to 17 year-olds use ChatGPT to do their schoolwork , which they access on the laptops the school give them
- The slowdown in learning has coincided with a “dismantling” of test-based accountability and a rise in social media use
- The May 2026 Surgeon General Report has detailed how screen use often harms children
- Higher screen use has been associated with lower academic achievement in foundational subjects such as math and reading
- Multitasking with digital media has interfered with attention and concentratio0n and negatively affected grades, test scores, recall, and reading
- Greater screen use has been associated with higher levels of depression, behavioral problems, self-injury, and substance abuse
The FCC’s notice seeks comment on potential legal and policy considerations for assessing children’s screen time and protecting children and empowering parents, teachers, and guardians involving children’s access to E-Rate-funded networks and services.
The FCC chairman has worked to evaluate the E-Rate program, including rolling back “unlawful” coronavirus pandemic-era expansions, such as E-Rate funding for off-campus Wi-Fi hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi, believing those programs exceeded the FCC’s congressional authority and wasted federal funds.
“This FCC review is also informed by the actions being taken in states across the country. We are now seeing a movement to address excessive screen time in schools, with some school districts removing devices and reducing screen time, particularly for younger children. Additionally, a number of bills have been introduced in Congress that are aimed at reducing excessive screen time for children, including for E-Rate supported ones,” Carr concluded in a statement.
“So, with graduation season upon us and many parents now looking ahead to the new school year to come, the time is ripe to have these conversations at the FCC.”