30 THE QUEENS COURIER • KIDS & EDUCATION • JULY 29, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
30 k TiHdE QsU E&EN Se CdOUuRIcERa • tJUiLoY 2n9, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens lawmaker introduces
bill to close homework gap
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Nearly 18 months aft er the COVID-
19 pandemic shone a bright light on the
far-reaching reality of the homework gap
and more than 12 million students in
the United States were unable to access
remote learning, a Queens lawmaker is
introducing new legislation to ensure that
students will continue to receive internet
access following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Queens Congresswoman Grace Meng
along with Senator Edward Markey
(D-MA), Senator Chris Van Hollen
(D-MD), and an additional 15 senators
and 25 House members introduced Th e
Securing Universal Communications
Connectivity to Ensure Students Succeed
(SUCCESS) Act, on Th ursday, July 22.
Th e legislation builds on the Emergency
Connectivity Fund created under the
American Rescue Plan and provides
schools and libraries with $8 billion a
year over fi ve years — for a total of $40
billion — to continue to provide Wi-Fi
hotspots, modems, routers, and internet
enabled devices to students, staff and
library patrons.
Th e bill continues the lawmakers’ eff orts
to close the homework gap facing 12 to 17
million students in the U.S. who do not
have internet access at home, and support
distance learning aft er the pandemic
is over.
“As our nation works to move past the
pandemic, we must use this opportunity
to help all students get online,” Meng said.
“Increasing internet access is a vital issue
that I have been proud to champion with
Senator Markey, and fi ghting for the $7
billion that was included in the American
Rescue Plan was a great victory. But more
must be done to build on this critical
down payment.”
Meng, a mother of two young children,
says she knows fi rsthand how crucial
this is, and that each and every student
must have the tools they need to succeed
in school.
“Th e SUCCESS Act is an essential component
to permanently closing the homework
gap. I urge all of my colleagues in
both chambers to help close this digital
divide by supporting our eff ort to secure
additional funding for schools and libraries,”
Meng said.
Even before the current emergency, students
without connectivity were at an
educational disadvantage because they
could not complete homework assignments
that required internet access aft er
class, according to the lawmakers.
Th e pandemic only made this situation
worse as schools shift ed to online
learning, leaving students without internet
access unable to continue their education.
Under the Emergency Educational
Connections Act, a part of the American
Rescue Plan, Congress provided a onetime,
$7.17 billion appropriation to connect
students and library patrons struggling
to learn at home.
Th e SUCCESS Act would provide crucial
additional funding to ensure that the
kids who are fi nally being connected by
the Emergency Connectivity Fund are
not disconnected once the original funds
run dry.
According to Markey, the homework
gap is an educational inequity that long
predates the current emergency, and funding
is needed to ensure that no student
is forced to sit in a strip mall parking lot,
hoping to connect to a local store’s internet
in order to fi nish their homework.
“Th is essential funding will build on the
newly created Emergency Connectivity
Fund and help ensure that the homework
gap does not grow into a damaging learning
and opportunity gap following the
pandemic for our children, particularly
those who live in communities of color,
low-income households, and rural areas,”
Markey said.
Van Hollen said too many students in
Maryland and across the country still lack
reliable internet access and face signifi -
cant barriers in completing their schoolwork.
“To close this gap, we must get funding
straight to where it’s needed,” Van
Hollen said.
Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
chairwoman, said the homework gap is
the cruelest part of the digital divide.
“Th e pandemic has made it crystal clear
that too many students are unable to complete
their school assignments because
they do not have internet access at home,”
Rosenworcel said. “Th is means they fall
behind in the classroom, and we all lose
out when we have a generation ill-prepared
to enter a 21st-century economy.”
Th e lawmakers’ legislation has received
support from education professional
associations and organizations across the
country.
Becky Pringle, president of the National
Education Association, said the pandemic
exposed and exacerbated the inequities
of the education system like internet connectivity.
“All students — no matter where they’re
Photo courtesy of Rep. Grace Meng’s offi ce
from, where they live or what they look
like — deserve access to the tools and
resources that will help them be successful
in school and in life. Yet too many students
— especially those in rural areas,
students living in poverty and Native
and communities of color — do not have
aff ordable access to the internet,” Pringle
said. “While the American Rescue Plan
helped provide vital funding to the E-rate
program, the gaps in inequality still exist
for our most vulnerable students.”
Patty Wong, president of the American
Library Association, said they look forward
to the swift passage of the legislation.
“Since the dial-up days, libraries across
the country have stood in the digital
gaps to connect our communities, especially
for those most vulnerable,” Wong
said. “Today’s libraries are committed to
improving internet access and providing
the digital literacy support essential
to advancing educational and economic
opportunity for all. Th e promise of the
SUCCESS Act means more libraries will
have access to critical funding to sustain
or initiate broadband equity programs
through the Emergency Connectivity
Fund.”
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