Coronavirus School Closings Expose Digital Divide

The mounting school closures amid the coronavirus outbreak in the US are exposing major equity gaps in access to technology and the internet, and the Federal Communications Commission needs to step in, according to FCC commissioners. "Now is absolutely the time to talk about the coronavirus disruption and how technology can help," FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told a Senate hearing. "Nationwide we are going to explore the expansion of tele-work, tele-health and tele-education, and in the process we are going to expose some really hard truths about the scope of the digital divide." Those hard truths are playing out in real-time in Washington state, where 34 schools and three school districts have closed, some for as long as a month. And while a handful of them are taking their classes online, many others aren't due to the students varying levels of access to technology. "The FCC should be convening broadband providers right now to prepare," Commissioner Rosenworcel said. "It should be identifying how it can use universal service powers to support connective care for quarantined patients and how wifi hotspots can be available for loan for students who have schools that have shut and classes that have migrated online."

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks also emphasized the important role the FCC could play in stemming the coronavirus outbreaks and keeping communities forced to quarantine connected to the outside world. "The FCC and communication networks have an integral role to play in responding to coronavirus. With quarantines being required, as it may be soon in many communities, broadband connections will become ever more vital. Everyone in the telecommunication sector must step up and the time is now. Americans are going to need broadband in their homes to help telework to keep the economy strong, to help understand medical information and potentially connect with medical care via telemedicine to help our youngest learners continue to grow. The FCC must join immediately with efforts that bring broadband into homes impacted with COVID-19."