FCC E-Rate Ruling Authorizing School Bus Wi-Fi Is Challenged in 5th Circuit

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should vacate the FCC’s Oct. 25 declaratory ruling that authorizes funding for Wi-Fi service and equipment on school buses under the commission’s E-rate program, said Maurine and Matthew Molak in a petition for review Wednesday (docket 23-60641). The Molaks said in the filing that the ruling will increase the E-rate program's “outlays” and “thereby directly increase" the amount of the federal universal service charge they pay each month as a line-item on their phone bill to fund E-rate costs.

The Molaks also have “a special interest in this matter” as co-founders of David’s Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the memory of their late son, said the petition. Their foundation is "committed to ending cyberbullying" through education, legislation and legal action, it said. The ruling “undermines that crucial mission by enabling unsupervised social-media access by children and teenagers” on school buses, it said.