“Importantly, the FCC does not have the authority to terminate the E-Rate program. The E-Rate program is mandated by Congress, and the FCC is responsible for administering it,” the national library group said.
If Carr goes through with eliminating E-Rate, he may argue that its original mission has been completed and that the FCC therefore has authority to end it.
“In establishing the program in 1996, Congress was addressing a specific problem: limited access to advanced telecommunications and Internet services in schools and libraries,” Carr’s proposal said. “Given the substantial expansion of broadband access in schools and libraries over the last three decades, we seek comment on whether and to what extent the E-Rate program has fulfilled that mission and whether continued funding is consistent with Congress’s original objective.”
There are other questions about FCC authority raised by the proceeding. For example, the American Library Association said “the FCC lacks the authority and expertise to regulate screen time or determine educational outcomes.”
The group’s filing pointed out that under US law, determinations about what content is inappropriate for children “shall be made by the school board, local educational agency, library, or other authority responsible for making the determination.” The law says the US government may not establish criteria for making those decisions or review the decisions made by local schools and libraries.
Texas and New York library groups agree
The Texas Library Association told the FCC that E-Rate should be giving more money to libraries to help them raise broadband speeds to modern standards. The group also said public libraries in the state have implemented appropriate supervision and filtering for the Internet services they offer library users.
“Only 35 percent of Texas public libraries currently receive E-Rate discounts, compared with 65 percent of public libraries nationwide, and only 55 percent meet the Commission’s own recommended broadband speed benchmarks,” the group said. “A gap this size, in the nation’s second-most populous state, is evidence of unmet need working through real obstacles—not evidence that the need has passed.”