Keeping Students Linked in California

The Californian students who could benefit the most from the college- and career-focused approach of Linked Learning are the least likely to have the internet and devices needed to access it from home. Across the state, 1.8 million children live in homes without high-speed internet, and nearly 690,000 have no access to devices. Children of color are much more likely to be cut off from virtual learning: Nearly one-quarter of Black families in California and almost one-third each of California’s Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native families do not have high-speed internet access at home. One in 10 each of Black, Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native families have no computer at home. While most of the burden for equipping students with the devices and internet access for ongoing online learning has fallen to local schools, districts, and states, the report calls on Congress to provide $6.8 billion in critical funding for internet and computer access for all students across the country.