Time is wasting on universal broadband
Summer is almost over and the coronavirus news remains almost uniformly bad, especially for Latinos. By one estimate, more than 65% of Latinos lost jobs or suffered a significant income reduction because of the pandemic. Nationally, almost 60% of Latinos said they had to cancel or delay medical appointments and more than 40% said they expect to have trouble paying their rent.
For families with children, this month’s major news is whether public schools will reopen and this news is also not promising. Classrooms in California’s two largest school districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, will remain closed and teachers will instead provide online learning until further notice. Houston and Atlanta will also begin their school years with several weeks of online-only instruction.
New York City schools will have a “blended” system in which students go to school 1-3 days per week. The remaining instruction will be online.
Once again, the nation confronts its urgent need for universal broadband. For years, the phrase “Broadband for All” has been a frequently repeated slogan and while the U.S. has made recent strides in improving broadband access, too many American children still lack access necessary for online education.
If you still need convincing, look at this recent article from The Wall Street Journal: “’Are They Setting My Children Up for Failure?’ Remote Learning Widens Education Gap." The article chronicles how low-income students in Jackson, Mississippi lost two months of school instruction last spring due to school closures and are likely to lose still more learning time this fall.
Granted not every education problem can be traced to lack of broadband access. But equally important, there cannot be a national solution that doesn’t include universal broadband access.
The first place to start is with the need to improve how we identify gaps in broadband coverage. Last March, in a remarkable show of bipartisanship, Congress approved and the President signed legislation to facilitate how the Federal government collects information on broadband availability. In July, Federal regulators built on that and accelerated the process.
Congress and the Administration must continue this progress. Specifically, they need to appropriate enough Federal funding not only to ensure this project’s success but also to spur investment in underserved areas.
There has never been a more urgent time to promote universal broadband. No child should be forced to fail at school for lack of adequate home broadband access.