D.C. Memo: FCC Lawyer Calls School Bus Wi-Fi 'Rolling Study Halls'

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Bus Wi-Fi: FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s decision to spend taxpayer money to subsidize Wi-Fi on school buses came under strong attack yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. Attorney David K. Suska, who is representing teen safety advocates Matthew and Maurine Molak, said federal law, by referring to classrooms, did not authorize bus Wi-Fi. “A school bus is not a classroom. Neither is my car that I use to drive my kids to school,” Suska said. “That’s why the [bus Wi-Fi] declaratory ruling is unlawful.” Suska reprised legal concerns raised by FCC Republicans FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington when the FCC adopted the declaratory ruling in October, 2023. Suska also argued that the FCC order was also procedurally defective. “The FCC pushed out this declaratory ruling without notice or comment on a party line vote. The agency thinks it can block participation on the front end, block judicial review on the back end and in the meantime push subsidies out the door. That’s not how administrative law works.” FCC attorney Rachel May said federal law clearly accommodated extending Internet subsidies to bus Wi-fi. "The word classroom is best interpreted to include buses that have been outfitted with Wi-Fi so they can serve as rolling study halls,” she said. Circuit Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan asked, "Why would that not apply to your house?" May said it would not “because a school bus is used exclusively by the school community and my house is not." May said the Molak side was wrong to think the FCC was “blowing the doors open to Internet everywhere but that misrepresents the order." On a Molak concern about bus Wi-fi fostering unsupervised Internet access, May said the FCC required content Internet filtering: “I think there is strong evidence that it will be used by students for homework – probably not 100% of students.” She conceded that the FCC does not require social media filtering.