Letter to Editor: Pencils, Books … and Full Internet Access

[Commentary] There was a time, not that long ago, when paper and pencil were all that homework required. But as Anthony W. Marx notes, that time has passed. In urban areas, rural areas and everywhere in between, students who lack Internet service at home have difficulty doing their nightly schoolwork. Many of them cobble together whatever connectivity they can, picking up free Wi-Fi signals in front of libraries, in school parking lots, and at fast-food restaurants. Credit them with creativity and resilience. But getting homework done should not be this hard. Solving this problem will take a mix of initiatives.

Already the Federal Communications Commission has updated its program supporting connectivity in low-income households to include broadband. Many broadband providers have low-cost offerings, and we need to ensure that schools and students are aware of them. We also need federal policies to increase unlicensed spectrum, which is used to support Wi-Fi. Finally, we need to keep tabs on local efforts — from outfitting school buses with wireless service to lending out library hot spots — and make sure that successful programs are copied elsewhere.