Federal review targets $3 billion school internet subsidies as screen time harms academic performance
By isabelle // 2026-06-05
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  • The FCC has launched a review of its E-Rate school internet subsidy program due to concerns that screen time is harming academic performance.
  • FCC Chairman Brendan Carr cited new research linking excessive screen use in schools to record-low math and reading scores.
  • The review aims to empower parents, who have been largely kept in the dark about how their children use federally funded technology at school.
  • A new study found each additional hour of daily screen time in childhood is associated with 10% lower odds of achieving higher academic levels.
  • The FCC will vote on June 25 to open formal public comment on potential reforms and new guardrails for the program.
The Federal Communications Commission just dropped a truth bomb that mainstream media has been desperate to ignore for years. On Wednesday, the agency announced it is launching a sweeping review of its school internet subsidy program known as E-Rate, citing concerns that increased screen time in schools may be contributing to declining academic performance. For too long, well-meaning parents have trusted that schools would protect their children's developing minds. But the evidence is now impossible to deny. The E-Rate program, which provides roughly $3 billion annually in discounts for internet access and connectivity services to eligible schools and libraries, has become a massive government experiment on the nation's children. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called the review necessary at a time when screen time use has surged at schools across the nation, particularly since COVID.

Research confirms the nightmare

Carr told Fox News Digital that the increased screen use may be leading to poor educational outcomes, citing an advisory issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this year. The chairman described what many parents already suspect but have been gaslit into doubting. "We're now starting to see research pour in that is associating excessive screen time in schools and for students with exceptionally poor academic outcomes," Carr said. "We're seeing really poor performance across the country on reading, on math skills, on cognitive development." The numbers back him up. According to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation's Report Card, 12th-graders' math and reading scores have hit record lows, continuing a years-long decline. This is not a coincidence.

Parents kept in the dark

Perhaps the most alarming revelation from this FCC review is how little parents actually know about what happens when their children walk through those school doors. "I think parents provide a lot of great oversight when kids are using technology and screens inside the home, but that level of parental oversight goes away when your kid is at school," Carr told Fox News Digital. "I think there's many, many parents that do not have insight into what their kids are doing when they're spending hours with screens in schools." This is a profound betrayal of parental rights. The federal government has been funneling billions of taxpayer dollars into programs that put glowing rectangles in front of children for hours on end, and parents are left completely in the dark. Carr emphasized that part of the FCC's proceeding is "to look at how do we empower parents and make sure that they know what's happening with these connections that are funded by this federal program."

Screen time and academic decline

The FCC review comes alongside mounting scientific evidence. A new study from TARGet Kids! research network, published in JAMA Network Open, followed more than 3,000 children across Ontario from 2008 to 2023. Researchers found that higher levels of screen time in early childhood are associated with lower scores in reading and mathematics on standardized tests. Each additional hour of daily screen time was associated with a 10 percent drop in the likelihood of achieving higher academic levels. TV and digital media time, including computers and handheld devices, were specifically linked to lower reading and math scores for both male and female students. Dr. Catherine Birken, senior author of the study, warned that "high levels of exposure, particularly to TV and digital media, may have a measurable impact on children's academic outcomes."

A return to sanity

Carr said the FCC review is building upon actions taken in Congress and in school districts across the nation to reduce screen time and return to more "classical approaches" to education. The review could ultimately lead to new guardrails for the program, transparency requirements, funding changes, or other reforms designed to ensure federally subsidized internet services align with what Carr described as the "best science" on educational outcomes. The FCC is scheduled to vote June 25 on whether to formally open the review and seek public comment on potential changes to the program. This is a critical moment for parents who have felt powerless against the screen invasion. The federal government has been spending three billion dollars of your money every single year to connect your children to devices that are making them worse at reading, worse at math, and worse at thinking. And they never asked for your permission. The FCC's review is a step in the right direction, but real change will only come when parents demand accountability. The science is clear. The data is damning. And your children deserve better than a lifetime tethered to a glowing screen in the name of "educational technology." Sources for this article include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org FoxNews.com News-Medical.net
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