Getting connected
Dear Leading Ladies,
What do you think of when you hear about inequalities in education? Bare bones science equipment, out-of-date books, large class sizes, poorly trained teachers, lack of extracurricular activities? Computers? And when you think about computers and internet connectivity and apps and programs, do you just think about them in the schools? What about in the homes of students?
Eleven-year-old Alexie made it crystal clear to us how important computers and the internet are to education in our times. She explained that all her homework is assigned and completed online; all her research for projects and papers needs to be done online; and necessary communications from her teachers are sent to her online.
So, clearly, even if a child goes to a school where she can use a computer in the classroom and library and maybe even borrow one to bring home for an assignment, it won’t do her any good if her family can’t afford to pay for internet access. Or if her building isn’t wired for the internet.
During the pandemic, computers provided the means to continue our children’s education when they couldn’t attend school. Remote learning, often far from ideal, at least gave teachers and students the opportunity to interact, exchange questions and answers, and move ahead in their studies. What helped was the establishment of the Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund in early 2021 in the US Treasury by the Consolidated Appropriations Act. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was directed to use this $3.2 billion fund to establish an Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBBP) “to help Americans afford internet service during the pandemic,” according to an announcement from the FCC. By the time the program ended, 9,048,536 households were enrolled.
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This great leveler was replaced by a new long-term, $14 billion program “to help ensure we can afford the connections we need for work, school, health care and more for a long time,” according to the FCC. Called the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and put in effect on December 31, 2021 under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the ACP enrolled nearly 23 million households, “helping close the digital divide by bringing more households online,” according to the FCC. Most households that qualified under the Emergency Broadband Benefit also qualified under the Affordable Connectivity Program, although the maximum monthly benefit changed from “$50 per month to $30 per month for households not located on qualifying Tribal lands.” Those on tribal lands could receive up to a $75 discount. New ways to qualify, such as “receiving WIC benefits or having an income at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines” were added.
All this meant things were looking up for all the sixth graders as well as those older and younger in our schools. They could do research at home on the internet, assuming they had computers. They could attend online classes or study sessions. Stay on top of assignments if they were home sick. Do their homework assignments, more and more of which require computers.
Sounds like progress, right?
And then came the bad news.
The funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program is due to run out this spring. Federal officials have stopped accepting new applications already, and participants are all guaranteed full benefits through April. In May, according to Madeleine Ngo in The Boston Globe, internet companies will have the option to provide “partial discounts using the remaining federal funding.” A $7 billion bill sponsored by Senator Bill Welch of Vermont to fund the program for another year has garnered some bi-partisan support, but it’s hard to know how far that will go.
When politicians speak of expanding internet and broadband access, they primarily talk about the economy and workforce. The Biden administration is spending “$42.5 billion to expand broadband to every corner of the country,” according to Ng, because “officials see it as a critical way to strengthen the economy.”
That is not only true, but important. We just don’t want the children to be forgotten in all this talk. All our children need more than books and pencils and backpacks to thrive in school. They need computers and internet access or they will be behind even before they begin.
Perhaps, if more people realize that internet access is crucial to the fight for equal access to quality education, the call for the continuation of some version of the Affordable Connectivity Program will gain more traction. We certainly hope so.
Best,
Therese (she/her/hers)
Judy (she/her/hers)
Didi (she/her/hers)
Leading Ladies Executive Team