The College Fix

Did you know highspeed internet access is a civil right?

Students deserve it.

In reality, here’s President Barack Obama’s latest way to shmooze young people and teachers unions at the expense of taxpayers: Fast internet for all.

Take a look at this picture U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan tweeted Thursday. They’re pushing this hard:

Here’s the backstory, as reported by College Fix contributor Julianne Stanford recently:

Obama revisited another plan from his 2013 State of the Union address, once again asking Congress for their aid in making high-speed Internet available to 99 percent of the nation’s students.

The president’s plan, known as ConnectEd, seeks to “foster a robust ecosystem for digital learning” and “make our schools an integral part of the broadband and technology transformation.”

“Tonight, I can announce that with the support of the FCC and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint and Verizon, we’ve got a down payment to start connecting more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students over the next two years, without adding a dime to the deficit,” the president said.

Oh, really?

According to tax reporter Kelly Phillips Erb of Forbes, the program is slated to cost between $4 billion and $6 billion.

“But the administration has a plan to pay for it: raise fees on cell phone users,” Phillips Erb reported. “[It] could result in as much as $12 in increased fees for cell phone customers over three years.”

The Federal Communications Commission would determine the increase in tax, bypassing Congress.

… (FCC) chairman Thomas Wheeler issued a statement in support of ConnectED following the address, stating:“The Federal Communications Commission shares the president’s commitment to seizing the opportunities of digital learning, which is why we’ve already launched an effort to modernize our successful E-Rate program – the nation’s largest education technology program.”

E-rate is a part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act signed by President Clinton, helping “schools and libraries obtain access to state of the art services and technologies at discounted rates.”

Because students apparently can’t learn without a fast Internet connection, so billions of dollars later, and taxpayers are on the hook.

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