Commissioner Rosenworcel Remarks at CUE16: "Closing the Homework Gap"

Thank you for having me join you today here at CUE16. Thank you because it is an honor to be a part of the largest and oldest gathering devoted to education technology. Today, as many as seven in ten teachers assign homework that requires access to broadband. But data from where I work—the Federal Communications Commission—shows that as many as one in three households do not subscribe to broadband service, due to lack of affordability and lack of interest. Think about those numbers. Where they overlap is what I call the Homework Gap—and according to the Pew Research Center the Homework Gap is real. Five million households out of the 29 million with school-aged children nationwide are falling into this gap.

The future of our economy, our country, and our success is built on digital and diverse workforce. We all know science, technology, engineering and math are the fastest growing fields in the new economy. We also know the diversity of our STEM workforce does not mirror the diversity of our population. It’s time to fix this and make our kids—all of our kids—not just digital consumers, but digital creators. And there are a lot of things we can do to make this happen. But a small step, and one we can take right now—is to make it possible for all students to do their homework. Because the Homework Gap is the cruelest part of our new digital divide—but it is within our power to bridge it.