FCC Proposes Funding Wi-Fi on School Buses to Close the Homework Gap

pcmag.com:

In an effort to help close the homework gap, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel on Wednesday proposed using federal funding to equip school buses with Wi-Fi.

If adopted, the ruling(Opens in a new window) would allow E-Rate program(Opens in a new window) funding—which provides heavy discounts to US schools and libraries for telecom and internet access—to outfit buses with Wi-Fi hotspots and broadband services.

"While we've made progress getting many more families connected through our various broadband funding programs, the homework gap is still a hard fact of life for millions of schoolchildren in urban and rural America," Rosenworcel said in a statement.

The "homework gap" affects millions of school-age children—mostly low-income and minority households(Opens in a new window)—who lack access to a high-speed internet service outside of the classroom. "Wiring our school buses is a practical step we can take that is consistent with the history of the E-Rate program," according to Rosenworcel. "This commonsense change could help kids who have no broadband at home."

It's unclear exactly how much work she expects kids to complete during their daily commute, or how the FCC intends to ensure students use provided Wi-Fi for educational purposes, and not to play games or scroll TikTok.

This is not exactly a novel idea: School bus Wi-Fi—already covered under the temporary Emergency Connectivity Fund, mandated as part of COVID-19 relief measures—has been piloted(Opens in a new window) in several states by telecom company Kajeet, which can connect up to 65 students at a time. The Commission, meanwhile, has received "many" requests over the years asking that broadband on school buses be made eligible for E-Rate funding.

Rosenworcel's