According to techcrunch, Jessica rosenworcel, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), proposed to provide federal funds to equip school buses with Wi Fi, which may further narrow the homework gap** The proposal will allow the use of funds from the E-rate program, generally reserved for school technology and connection costs, for the purchase of wireless hotspots or other methods of connecting buses.
"The homework gap remains a difficult fact in the lives of millions of schoolchildren in urban and rural America. Equipping our school buses with Wi Fi is a practical step we can take, consistent with the history of the E-rate program." "This common sense change can help children who do not have broadband at home," rosenworth said in a statement announcing the proposed ruling Through the FCC's emergency link fund, which has spent $35 million in this regard, the declarative ruling (currently the official name of the proposal) found that its costs would exceed its benefits.
Although it's easy to think that scenes like children uploading homework on buses are stupid or typical adolescent procrastination, networking is a serious problem across the United States. Moreover, some children take the bus for quite a long time. If Wi Fi at home is not available and they cannot access the school server with their mobile phone, Wi Fi on the school bus will provide convenience for them.
Funding for Wi Fi on school buses has been included in the emergency connection fund program, an interim plan authorized by Congress as part of covid-19 relief measures. To date, the Committee has committed more than $35 million through the plan to purchase Wi Fi hotspots and broadband services for school buses. The declarative ruling held that any potential impact of subsidizing Wi Fi on school buses was limited compared with the huge benefits obtained by students, and pointed out that the demand of E-rate program has been much lower than the capital ceiling in the past few years.
