Get Loud: Public Library and School Internet Access Is Under Threat

Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the government overseen by Congress, as has been the case in the Trump-Vance administration, the agency’s role in federal operations has shifted to following the administration’s will and agenda. Current FCC chair Brendan Carr was appointed by Trump during his first administration, and Carr’s background includes authoring the Project 2025 chapter about the FCC.

Perhaps it comes as little surprise, then, that one of the most important resources in public schools and public libraries, the internet, is on the FCC’s chopping block.

The e-Rate program helps bridge the digital divide by providing schools and libraries with access to affordable internet and telecommunications services. As more and more services are only accessible online, the e-Rate program has been especially vital in keeping folks connected, especially in small and rural areas. It’s easy to think of schools and libraries as places of learning, with widespread access to physical and digital materials. But those digital services aren’t free, and most of these public institutions benefit from e-Rates. They have to.

Digital connectivity isn’t free through the e-Rate program. Rather, it’s discounted based on numerous qualifications:

20-90% of the eligible costs may be covered through e-Rate programs, with schools and libraries in more impoverished communities receiving higher discounts;

To receive the funding, schools and libraries have to go through their typical process to bid for these services, meaning that they are getting the most competitive prices and packages to begin with (as anyone who has familiarity with a bidding process knows, this doesn’t necessarily mean these institutions are getting the best choices, they’re getting the most affordable!);

Laptops, computers, and other physical equipment are ineligible for e-Rate, as it’s limited to connectivity;

There is a limit each year to how much money is available to each institution via the e-Rate, and institutions can be monitored and audited at any time.

According to the Schools Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition, more than 100,000 schools and roughly 11,000 libraries across the country participate in e-Rate, which extends around $3 billion annually. You can find out where and how schools and libraries in your area benefit from e-Rate, again, thanks to the tremendous oversight in the program.

The FCC wants to change e-Rate. Carr believes that students are getting “too much screen time,” and, as a result, these discounts should be severely reduced or eliminated. He notes that students are spending less time reading and engaging with books as a result of spending hours a day on computers.

What Carr doesn’t say is that this is a deliberate and calculated attack on public institutions, all aligned with the same philosophies undergirding the right’s ongoing attacks on these institutions. That is, the same lies about schools and libraries promoting “inappropriate” materials are those behind the e-Rate cut proposition, if and where the right can step in and remove access to information and to facts to the public (and especially children!), the more they believe they’ll be able to control the future of the authoritarian regime. It is no coincidence that book ban and curriculum legislation are pulsing through Congress at the same time as the proposal to cut e-Rates. It is not a coincidence that all these align with the push to privatize education (or, in the right’s parlance, “provide educational choice”) through voucher schemes that steal taxpayer money in service of the desires of the wealthy and well-connected.

It is chilling to read these proposals under the banner of the FCC “Ensur[ing] it fulfills Congress’s vision.” This is a matter of the people, not the politics.

E-rates help the poorest and most vulnerable access one of society’s most crucial utilities right now: the internet. The same internet that members of Congress are attempting to siphon away from the public and into the pockets of technocats and censors via blatant lies about “protecting kids.”

Ending e-Rates wouldn’t just impact young people, though they would be disproportionately affected. Cutting e-Rates means that those who rely on libraries for internet access to do any variety of activities, from seeking entertainment to filling out job applications, a task increasingly only done online, may lose access or find it severely limited. Such throttling is intentional, and it would also lead to further censorship in libraries. If the budget is now split between providing internet access and providing books for users to borrow in a small, rural library, chances are the money will go to the internet rather than materials. That would limit the types of materials available.

Cessation of the e-Rate program would also directly impact democratic engagement. Learning where and how to vote in one’s community often requires access to the internet, as it does for locating a sample ballot and researching the candidates running. In many communities, information about those candidates is already behind a news paywall, meaning that users have to utilize library databases to read their profiles if they don’t pay for those news outlets.

This isn’t the Carr FCC’s first attempt to change e-Rates, either. Last year, the FCC ended funding for libraries and schools that offered Wi-Fi hotspots. Cuts were also made to wireless internet access on school buses.

In an era of ever-shrinking library budgets, e-Rates are vital.

In an era of ever-growing authoritarianism, pushing back against extremism that does direct harm to the people is necessary, too.

So What Happens Now?

The FCC will soon seek public feedback on the future of eRates. This is your time to speak up about how important affordable internet access is to public schools and libraries. These cuts will disproportionately affect rural and small communities, the very places that the Trump-Vance administration targets for ongoing support, the kind of support that’s more about access to quality information and facts these communities have than about actual party allegiance.

Save Our E-Rate is tracking when the FCC will open up its comment period. Keep your eyes on this landing page, and when it opens, provide frank feedback to the FCC about the impact of cutting discounted internet rates to public schools and libraries. As a taxpayer, your input on this is crucial, as it is your money being yanked away from supporting these institutions.

The same coalition of organizations behind Save Our E-Rate is hosting a webinar to provide more information and insight into the program and what’s at stake. You can sign up for the free event, which will run on July 17 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), the American Library Association (ALA), and the School Superintendents Association (AASA) all have petitions available to sign. These will go directly to lawmakers in Congress, urging them to take action against such cuts. If you’re not a member of any of these organizations, consider signing the ALA petition, as well as contacting your House Representative and both of your state Senators. You can do this before the FCC comment period.

For more information and to keep abreast of the latest news related to the FCC and E-Rates, dig into the wealth of resources from the School, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition.