Over 1,900 Americans Ask Congress to Support Remote Learning Initiative Amid Pandemic

Approximately 1,900 individuals and organizations wrote to Congress endorsing draft legislation to connect students and library patrons at home during the coronavirus pandemic. The draft proposal, the “Remote Learning During COVID-19 Act,” would appropriate $5.25 billion to an emergency fund to connect the millions of families who don’t have internet at home. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, the State E-rate Coordinators Alliance (SECA), and Funds For Learning (FFL) drafted the proposal based on a needs analysis, which found that 7.15 million families do not have home internet access. Furthermore, the analysis determined that $5.25 billion is needed to close this education gap.