Home Internet for Students or District Cybersecurity: Where Should the Money Go?

Despite billions of dollars in one-time federal relief money to help students learn online at home during the pandemic, the so-called homework gap persists. In fact, some schools have stopped extending students and teachers without reliable internet the connectivity help they provided during the pandemic. Forty-five percent of public schools say they are still offering home internet to students. That’s down from 70 percent in September of 2021. Educators want to see the federal government provide permanent resources for home connectivity. The big question is: What should that look like? There are two key options on the table: 1) Expand the E-rate to cover home internet and 2) Make the Emergency Connectivity Fund a permanent fixture of the federal budget.