Lawmakers Want to Cut Low-Income Schoolchildren Off from the Internet

This week, the Senate voted to shutter a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program that provides free internet for low-income children, which could risk cutting them off from tools they need to do homework. As Ars Technica reports, the GOP-controlled Senate voted along party lines to repeal the late Biden-era initiative that lends out free Wi-Fi hotspots to schools so that kids who lack internet access at home can get connected. In a statement announcing the repeal vote, senator Ted Cruz called the program "illegal, harmful to children, duplicative of other government programs, and a blatant overreach" that would undermine parents' ability to monitor their kids' internet activities. Those on the other side of the aisle, however, see it quite differently. "It would be a disgrace if we deprive those students and their families of this vast resource, of literally life-changing access to a really necessary service that helps them not just now but throughout their futures," said s ... Read full article.