School is starting -- and the broadband gap will be a massive problem

Schools are being forced to tackle the digital divide problem in their districts, becoming experts in complex broadband options seemingly overnight. That's on top of grappling with how to make sure their low-income students are fed and healthy, and navigating archaic regulations controlling how they receive funding. Various schools around the country have relied on emergency relief funds from the CARES Act to purchase devices and hotspots for students, while others have begged the public and businesses for help funding equipment.  "Even before the pandemic we had a homework gap," says Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director of advocacy and governance at AASA, the School Superintendents Association. "We all knew it, we all talked about it. It's not as if the pandemic created the homework gap, it's just that we can no longer conveniently have it swept under the rug."

Whether they hail from California or West Virginia, many schools hoped to tap into a tool that's long helped their internet connectivity efforts: a federal assistance program called E-Rate. The Federal Communications Commission-run program provides schools and libraries with internet service that's discounted by 20% to 90%, depending on the poverty level of the area.  Instead, they found that trying to expand their E-Rate discounts outside of the school walls would hurt them.