Broadband basics for back to school

It’s September and the new school year is underway. Across the country, students are filing into their new classrooms and meeting their new teachers. They are also getting ready for something familiar in education — and that’s homework. What is new about homework, however, is that it now requires internet service. Today, seven in 10 teachers assign homework that requires online access. But data from the Federal Communications Commission, where I work, consistently shows that one in three households does not subscribe to broadband. Where those numbers overlap is the homework gap. 

We need to do something about it. Fixing this problem starts with smart infrastructure policy to get broadband in more places, especially in rural areas. But we need to go beyond deployment and think about affordability. The FCC has not only failed to make this connection, it has rolled back universal service programs designed for low-income households that could be used to boost student access to broadband. As a result, in a recent report the Government Accountability Office called on the FCC to think anew about policies to help with the homework gap. It’s time for the FCC to make this effort a priority. While we’re at it, we need to acknowledge that if students have internet access at home for schoolwork, that’s only part of the equation. They also need it in their classrooms for modern education.