CEC Joins Colleagues to Urge Congress to Address the “Homework Gap”
On Friday, 60 national education organizations and associations—including CEC—penned a letter to House and Senate leadership urging Congress to establish Emergency Connectivity Fund to provide $12 billion to schools and libraries to ensure that students and educators have Internet access and devices.
Funding would be directed to the Federal Communication Commission’s E-rate Program, which the letter describes as “the quickest, most efficient and, most importantly, most equitable way, to disseminate the funds to public and private schools and public libraries to help ensure K-12 students have Internet access from home and appropriate connection devices.”
The letter comes as cases are rising across the country and there is a subsequent increase in virtual schooling. Gaps in access to the Internet and devices has disproportionately impacted students of color, students living in poverty, and rural students, exacerbating existing disparities.
The letter concludes, “Without specific, targeted funds to help students who do not have Internet access at home—whether it is Internet service, devices or both—we are denying students the fundamental right to an education.”