We recently received a call from a Butler County woman concerned that her 8-year-old grandson, whose home is not connected to broadband internet service, will have trouble keeping up with online coursework when he returns to school this fall.

In recent weeks, several bills have been introduced in Congress to invest in rural broadband. Legislative efforts are focused on providing federal funds to deploy broadband faster.

While rural communities have been asking for federal support for years, the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders have called attention to America’s urban-rural digital divide.

A 2019 study by Microsoft showed roughly 163 million people in the United States do not have broadband service.

And the Federal Communications Commission’s 2020 Broadband Deployment Report stated 22.3 percent of Americans in rural areas do not have high-speed internet.

COVID-19 has revealed that more than 12 million of 55 million students who were sent home at the end of March did not have home broadband access.

Nationwide, many school districts have announced plans to go either completely virtual or implement a hybrid model of both in-person and distance learning.

But if the last few months are any indication of most schools’ effectiveness in deploying remote learning, minority and rural students, will be left behind regarding education and social mobility.

Given these new realities, every K-12 school must have a 21st century remote access plan to complement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and Congress must include funding for bringing broadband access to all public schools in the next coronavirus stimulus bill.

Recent research on distance learning from Common Sense, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children, found that 9 million students in the United States did not have access to both internet and a device to use as schools transitioned to online learning.

To help close the digital divide, President Donald Trump in March signed an act which would require the Federal Communications Commission to improve the way that broadband data is collected.

The act tasks the FCC with collecting broadband maps from wired, fixed wireless and satellite broadband providers. The maps will be used when deciding awards for broadband funding.

We urge Congress to do all it can to push for additional funding to improve our nation’s high-speed internet access.

No child should be denied a proper education because of lack of internet access.

— JGG