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As superintendent of Desert Sands Unified in California鈥檚 Coachella Valley, Kelly May-Vollmer has a hard time naming a system that鈥檚 not somehow connected to the district鈥檚 broadband network.

Parents can check a school bus tracking app to make sure their child arrived on time. Cafeteria staff don鈥檛 use cash registers; kids鈥� meal accounts are linked to the cloud. Even grounds crews depend on external wireless access points to maintain the fields and landscaping at the district鈥檚 34 schools.

鈥淭hey’re running our sprinkler systems off iPads,鈥� May-Vollmer said.

Her district is like the across the country that apply each year for discounts on broadband service through a federal program called E-Rate. High-poverty districts like Desert Sands save up to 90% of the cost of connecting their schools and classrooms to the internet.

But the Federal Communications Commission, which oversees the program Congress created 30 years ago, has launched a 鈥渢op-to-bottom鈥� evaluation that has leaders of the nation鈥檚 school districts on edge. The FCC is collecting views on how the program should be reformed or even whether it should be abandoned altogether because it 鈥渉as fulfilled鈥� its mission. In addition to asking whether the benefit should be restricted to rural districts, the agency links E-Rate to present-day concerns over screen time. Oct. 13 and replies are due Nov. 12.

The proposal is 鈥渁imed at empowering parents and ensuring that our E-Rate program produces the great educational outcomes stakeholders have intended,鈥� FCC Chairman in early June when he announced the review. In , the far-right Heritage Foundation鈥檚 blueprint for the Trump administration, Carr said because of advancements in technology, decisions about the program 鈥渟hould be made with an eye to right-sizing the federal government鈥檚 existing broadband initiatives.鈥�

The review process has left ed tech leaders both confused and ready to fight.

鈥淭hey’re asking us to comment on a potential rulemaking and they haven’t told us what the rules would be,鈥� said Keith Kruger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, a leading ed tech professional organization. He called the initial the FCC released 鈥渟o extraordinarily broad and comprehensive鈥� that they鈥檙e too overwhelming for the average district leader to address. 鈥淲e’re going to have to be very loud and noisy as a community to our members of Congress and to governors to say 鈥楬ands off the E-Rate.鈥� 鈥� 

As in Desert Sands, districts depend on internet access for a lot more than classroom instruction, including taking attendance and managing payroll. But it鈥檚 how students use the internet at school that has taken over the discussion about updating the program.

鈥淗istorically, underserved students lacked access to computers and technology, and efforts were made to 鈥榗lose the digital divide,鈥� 鈥� said Emily Cherkin, a Seattle-based consultant and leading figure in the battle against 鈥渂ig tech.鈥� In 2026, she said, 鈥渢he pendulum has swung too far.鈥�

In January, she , saying that children鈥檚 access to the internet has led to 鈥渃atastrophic鈥� impacts on their mental health, learning and development. In response to those concerns, some states are . Parents are demanding the chance to of apps and learning platforms, and others, including Cherkin, are suing and publishers, accusing them of and .  

鈥楢 connectivity program鈥�

Groups like the Consortium for School Networking have called for a balanced approach before the valid concerns over kids鈥� time online threatens the loss of a program that saves schools and libraries over $2.5 billion each year. 

The discounts apply to high-speed internet service as well as Wi-Fi access points, routers and switches. Desert Sands, for example, is currently upgrading such equipment district-wide 鈥� a $1 million project that is only costing the district $200,000 because of the discount. But E-Rate benefits don鈥檛 extend to devices for students, digital content or software licenses. 

E-Rate 鈥渋s a connectivity program,鈥� Krueger said. 鈥淚t’s not an education program.鈥� 

Last week, CoSN released highlighting examples of 鈥減urposeful鈥� technology use and stressed that there鈥檚 a difference between a student scrolling social media during the school day and another working with a classmate on a multimedia project. 

鈥淭he goal is not simply to reduce or increase screen time,鈥� the report says. 鈥淭he goal is to ensure that every use of technology has a clear instructional purpose.鈥�

But Cherkin is skeptical of what she calls the industry鈥檚 鈥�.鈥� As long as students are spending time on a device, she wrote that it doesn鈥檛 matter whether they have high-quality materials. Her years as a former middle school English teacher in Seattle private schools, from 2003 to 2015, helped to shape her views on technology. Schools had computer labs and a dedicated technology teacher, a model she鈥檇 like to see reinstated. That arrangement evolved into reserving a cart with laptops that she would bring to her classroom when needed.

The turning point, she said, was when she started uploading grades into a digital portal.

鈥淚nstead of coming to talk to me directly and having a conversation about what they might need to do to improve 鈥� they were instead directed to a digital platform that had a number or letter grade, which told them very little overall,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 saw it devaluing the experience of learning to be a student who could self-advocate.鈥�

Parents, whom she described as 鈥渉ighly anxious,鈥� constantly checked the portal and emailed her about why their children didn鈥檛 get an A or were missing a grade. Despite her concerns over the internet鈥檚 impact on students, she still supports the argument that access should be universally available. 

鈥楶ulling out the rug鈥�

For Krueger and others who fought to increase access for students in schools and homes, this moment feels like a giant step backward. As founder of EducationSuperhighway, a nonprofit, Evan Marwell advocated for a fiber connection to every school in the nation, reaching . 

鈥淭here are a lot of good uses of technology in classrooms,鈥� he said. 鈥淧ulling out the rug from teachers and students on all those good uses would be, in my opinion, a big mistake.鈥� 

During the pandemic, his organization pivoted to signing up low-income families for discounted high-speed service at home so students wouldn鈥檛 have to sit in McDonalds鈥� parking lots to pick up Wi-Fi to do homework.

Last fall, in its first move toward rolling back federal broadband initiatives, the FCC at-home and school bus Wi-Fi access from the program, features that were added during the Biden administration. The move, Carr said in , would end what he called 鈥渋llegal funding鈥� of young kids鈥� unsupervised screen time.

Sen. Edward Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who wrote the E-Rate program as part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act said in that the decision would 鈥渓eave low-income, rural and marginalized communities disconnected.鈥� 

The FCC asks whether E-Rate should be 鈥渓imited or sunset,鈥� considering the nearly universal access in schools. But Kevin Taglang, an executive editor with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, a nonprofit, that high-poverty districts receiving the largest discounts serve more than 16 million students. In Desert Sands, those kids have parents who work at the resorts, golf courses and restaurants across Palm Springs.

鈥淎ny eligibility change that removes these schools from the program, or substantially reduces their discount levels, would fall hardest on the students and districts least able to absorb the loss,鈥� he wrote.

Preventing fraud

Conservatives first tried to end E-Rate through a 2023 lawsuit. Consumers Research, a nonprofit, argued that the FCC鈥檚 arrangement with the Universal Service Administrative Company, the private entity that , was illegal and gave too much power to a federal agency. But in a 6-3 decision last year, the U.S. Supreme Court .

The Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, highlighted E-Rate in a , saying that out of five government programs evaluated, it was the only one following all nine recommended practices for preventing fraud, waste and abuse. That was a big improvement over a , which flagged the program for 鈥渟everal key fraud risks.鈥� 

Krueger, with CoSN, said some improvements to E-Rate are needed, like more 鈥渟erious funding鈥� for cybersecurity.聽

鈥淗aving broadband that is at risk for cyber attacks isn’t helpful,鈥� he said.聽

Between July 2023 and December 2024, 82% of schools experienced some type of cyber incident, such as a ransomware attack, a data breach or a phishing attempt, according to last year from the nonprofit Center for Internet Security. When the FCC opened up a $200 million E-Rate cybersecurity pilot program in 2024, the demand was huge. The agency totaling $3.7 billion.聽

Krueger, however, questions whether the FCC is the right agency to determine whether Wi-Fi access is harming students鈥� learning. That, he said, should be the responsibility of the Office of Educational Technology, which the Trump administration gutted last year when it eliminated roughly half of the Department of Education鈥檚 staff.

At a late July gathering in Washington, Amber Davis, chief of staff in the Department of Education鈥檚 Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, told advocates from about 22 states that there is still an ed tech office at the agency, according to CoSN Chair Stacy Hawthorne. The attendees, Hawthorne said, joked that it may only exist on paper. 

The department did not respond to questions about the makeup of the office.

The E-rate went to fight to Capitol Hill. 鈥攁濒辞苍驳蝉颈诲别 , , , & EdLiNC鈥攂riefed Congress on why school Wi-Fi is a core safety issue鈥攆rom bus tracking to door locks. Read Stacy's remarks:

— CoSN (@CoSN)

The event was one of several likely to occur over the next couple months as leaders advocate to preserve E-Rate. With this year鈥檚 application period already complete, the FCC on July 29 that the program still exists and that its 鈥渘otice of potential rulemaking鈥� won鈥檛 immediately result in a loss of funding. 

If the administration scales back or discontinues E-Rate, district leaders say they鈥檒l have to make up the difference somehow. LaTonya Goffney, superintendent of the Aldine Independent School District, near Houston, said with 86% of her district鈥檚 budget tied up in personnel, she would have to cut staff or programs to replace the more than $2 million saved each year from discounts.

鈥淭he utilities, the transportation 鈥� all of those things we can’t eliminate,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e still have to provide those for our students.鈥�

In Desert Sands, May-Vollmer added that because E-Rate requires , the cost of broadband service for schools would likely increase if the program is gone. For her, unlimited Wi-Fi in the classroom replicates the real-world for students. 

鈥淵ou and I don’t schedule time to go to a computer lab,鈥� she said. 鈥淎t work, if I say 鈥楨verybody, go get your computer,鈥� we have that ability. I want that ability in the classroom, too.鈥�

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