CEO Evan Marwell estimates about half of those families include school-age children. 

鈥淭he narrative is that it鈥檚 been about building infrastructure in rural America,鈥� Marwell said, but added, 鈥渁fter decades of investment, affordability is now the biggest problem.鈥� 

In 43 states, the inability to pay for internet service accounts for more than half of the digital divide 鈥� even in those with large rural populations, according to the report, entitled 鈥淣o Home Left Offline.鈥�

Congress included a $7.1 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit in the American Rescue Plan last March, but less than 17 percent of eligible households have signed up, the report said. A lack of awareness of the program, skepticism over whether the benefit will actually cover internet costs and confusing enrollment procedures are the primary obstacles to participation, the authors note.

Since the start of the pandemic, millions of students have missed out on learning because of insufficient internet access because they lack stable or strong-enough connections to complete tests, upload assignments and interact with teachers and classmates over Zoom. Problems with technology are among the reasons for high absenteeism rates among remote learners, an issue that has persisted this year with students in quarantine. Experts say states and communities need strong and targeted marketing campaigns to get wary families to take advantage of free and discounted programs.

The report comes as the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package 鈥� which includes $65 billion for broadband 鈥� awaits a vote in the House. The bill renames the benefit the Affordable Connectivity Fund and allocates $14.2 billion to make it permanent.

鈥楥an鈥檛 rely on volunteers鈥�

The federal benefit program primarily serves existing customers who have faced economic setbacks because of the pandemic 鈥� not those who have never subscribed to an internet provider, according to the report. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important, Marwell said, to have staff dedicated to getting students connected.

鈥淥ne of the big takeaways from the pandemic is you can鈥檛 rely on volunteers,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou need paid staff, and you need really specific data about who you are trying to sign up.鈥�

In Little Rock, Arkansas, Maddie Long is already doing that work.
On a break from finishing her master鈥檚 in Indigineous studies at the University of Kansas, she was working as a landscaper in Little Rock when she saw the opening for an fellow. Heartland Forward, a think tank focusing on the needs of states in the middle of the country, is funding the position to help reduce the digital divide.

Now Long attends community events, such as a recent vaccination clinic at the Guatemalan consulate, to talk to those who qualify and provide flyers about the program for the Little Rock School District to stuff in food pantry bags for families.

Parents, she said, are sometimes resistant because they鈥檝e heard the benefit will run out when the pandemic is over (That鈥檚 true unless the infrastructure bill passes). The program also includes a one-time $100 credit toward a device, but participants have to get it through their internet provider, which may not be participating in that part of the program

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that was set up in the most user-friendly manner,鈥� she said. 鈥淓very federal benefit has its own challenges.鈥�

鈥楢 real turn-off鈥� 

The Los Angeles Unified School District is trying another strategy 鈥� using the federal Emergency Connectivity Fund, another part of the American Rescue Plan, to pay for students鈥� at-home internet service. 

Tanya Ortiz Franklin, a Los Angeles school board member, said that while many internet providers launched discounted programs last year, parents would get turned down because of previous late payments or faced increased costs after trial periods. 

鈥淭hat was a real turn-off to a lot of high need families,鈥� she said.

The district was inspired by a , run by the nonprofit Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, that serves over 400 families in three low-income communities in the city. The district has now received responses from 22,000 parents who want to participate in the larger, districtwide program, when the contract is finalized, Franklin said. While the district promotes the Emergency Broadband Benefit, she doubts many families are participating.

鈥淚t鈥檚 another layer,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 lot of these things are super well-intentioned, but the implementation requires so much social work.鈥�

Students who often put up with dropped connections, broken devices or maxed-out wireless plans are also speaking out about improving access to Wi-Fi.

鈥淧eople talk about it, but nothing really gets done,鈥� said Marylin Terrazas, an 11th grader at Travis High School near Houston. She鈥檚 among the Fort Bend Independent School District students producing and moderating a live Nov. 17 broadcast organized by Connected Nation, a nonprofit focused on eliminating the digital divide. 鈥淚 thought this was a great way to spread the word that there are people who need help,鈥� she said.

Joey Dyrud-Lange, the district鈥檚 media production teacher, said lower-income students with parents and grandparents who 鈥渁ren鈥檛 necessarily the most educated on technology鈥� are especially at a disadvantage.

鈥淚 saw a huge gap in learning [last year], and it’s not the students鈥� fault,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey go to extreme lengths on their cell phones to try to access their learning.鈥�

The EducationSuperHighway report recommends 鈥渂roadband adoption centers,鈥� staffed with employees who can help parents enroll in the benefit program. Under the infrastructure bill, the broadband subsidy would drop from $50 a month to $30. With many internet companies already offering low-cost programs for $10 to $15 a month, that鈥檚 more than enough, Marwell said, for companies to not only cover their costs but offer faster internet speeds and even make a profit. 

鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to look at this and say, 鈥楴ow, we have 18 million potential customers. We need to build a business plan to get these people signed up,鈥欌�� Marwell said. 鈥淭he idea that we can do this is not a pipe dream.鈥�

But the narrow, 45-day window for districts to apply comes in the middle of the summer as leaders are scrambling to prepare for a new school year and face a host of unknowns.

鈥淚 think a lot of schools are going to say, 鈥榃e can鈥檛 do it,鈥欌�� said Evan Marwell, CEO of nonprofit Education SuperHighway, a nonprofit working to improve at-home broadband service for students.

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If they don鈥檛 apply for the new , part of the American Rescue Plan, districts could miss out on critical funding at a time when demand for remote learning options this fall is increasing. While most say they鈥檙e committed to fully reopening, concerns about rising COVID-19 cases are prompting more parents to push for virtual learning. The question is whether students 鈥� especially those in lower-income homes 鈥� will still have to contend with glitchy Zoom sessions or getting kicked off line in the middle of submitting assignments.

Home internet access has increased substantially in recent years, but 11 percent of families still depend on mobile devices for service, according to released last month from New America and Rutgers University. Among those with at-home broadband service, more than half described their service as too slow.

A by the Consortium for School Networking, a professional group for district technology leaders, showed that almost three-quarters of respondents said they plan to apply for the new federal funds. But only 170 members took the survey. A spokeswoman for the Federal Communications Commission, which runs the program, said the agency doesn鈥檛 have data on how many districts have applied so far. Christine Fox, senior director of external relations at the Consortium, added that some districts are waiting for a second application window, but the FCC said there鈥檚 no guarantee there will be one.

鈥楥OVID numbers increasing鈥�

Arkansas is among the states where some districts are applying for the technology fund and seeing a growing demand for remote learning. Applications from districts that want to offer virtual academies have been pouring into the education department. In mid-June, Don Benton, assistant commissioner for research and technology, had received 125 requests. By last week, most of those had been approved, with at least another 75 pending.

Benton expected as much, with 鈥淐OVID numbers increasing 鈥� due the abysmal number of people getting vaccinated and taking the vaccination, social distancing, and precautions seriously.鈥� Less than half of the state鈥檚 vaccine-eligible population has had one dose, according to .

In other parts of the country, many districts decided to continue offering virtual learning to accommodate parent demand 鈥� even before COVID cases began to rise again. showed two-thirds of the nation鈥檚 top districts will offer virtual academies, and the Austin Independent School District in Texas, even its virtual learning program for elementary students outside the district.

The Harrison School District in northwest Arkansas is among those putting final touches on a connectivity fund application and planning to use the money for more hotspots.

Susan Gilley, the district鈥檚 executive director of federal programs, said she鈥檚 most concerned about students having reliable internet and those 鈥渢hat live so remotely that even cellular Wi-Fi is unavailable.鈥� The district is allowing remote learning for third grade and above.

The 2,700-student district supplied 100 families with hotspots last school year and plans to increase that to 1,000, Gilley said. The district also hopes to purchase 1,100 devices for students and outfit its entire fleet of 37 buses with Wi-Fi routers, up from eight last year.

But some experts want districts to think beyond devices.

鈥淒istricts for the most part have plenty of tools already,鈥� said Joseph South, chief learning officer at the International Society for Technology in Education.

The uncertainty about reopening means districts need to be ready to adapt to changing situations, he said. Even if schools don鈥檛 close completely this fall because of positive case rates, there have already been examples of students being .

Successful models, South said, 鈥渞equire an approach where technology is being used face-to-face in ways that are effective each day, but that also lay a foundation for a shift to more reliance on the technology if face-to-face engagement has to be curtailed.鈥�

Benton, in Arkansas, added that if districts are going to allow remote learning, he鈥檇 like them to give parents better information on how to keep students at home on track. A from the University of Missouri showed that the transition to remote learning put particular stress on Black families who often lacked reliable internet and the technological know-how to keep students connected.

鈥淲e can have the best technology, teachers and tools available, but without quality family engagement, we are missing a huge piece for student success,鈥� Benton said.

鈥楴ot all hotspots are equal鈥�

The Emergency Connectivity Fund is similar to an existing internet discount program for schools and libraries, known as E-Rate. Funds can cover the cost of devices, hotspots and routers on Wi-Fi-enabled buses. Larger districts with technology departments might be in a better position to develop strong plans and meet the program鈥檚 requirements, Marwell said. But others might just buy more hotspots because that鈥檚 easier than negotiating a plan with an internet provider to provide service to students鈥� homes.

In general, hotspots are only as good as the surrounding cell service, meaning they provide spotty connections in a lot of rural areas and often aren鈥檛 strong enough for multiple family members to be online at one time. Wired connections, linked to fiber-optic cable, are faster and more reliable, but many communities still don鈥檛 have service. That鈥檚 one need the infrastructure bill, which the Senate was expected to pass Tuesday, would address.

Hotspots 鈥渨orked great for some students,鈥� Marwell said, 鈥渂ut that didn鈥檛 work well for a lot of students.鈥�

After a year in which some students had no face-to-face learning, researchers have a better handle on where the nation鈥檚 broadband infrastructure fell short in meeting the needs of families with multiple children learning at home.

As the nation transitioned to remote work and learning, complaints to the FCCskyrocketed, according to a recent Carnegie Mellon University . Most users complained that providers offered faster 鈥渄ownstream鈥� service 鈥� the ability to download files or videos 鈥� than the 鈥渦pstream鈥� capabilities needed to submit files like school assignments.

鈥淭he implications for [internet service providers] are obvious,鈥� the authors wrote. 鈥淓ven after COVID-19 has been tamed, we will probably see more people working and going to school from home than before the pandemic.鈥� The authors said providers will have to reconsider the speed customers need to upload data 鈥渙r risk becoming less competitive.鈥�

Companies marketing internet solutions to districts are also trying to address families鈥� frustrations with unreliable service. Last month, Kajeet 鈥� known for enabling school buses to blast Wi-Fi into neighborhoods with limited broadband 鈥� launched its new , a fixed connection suitable for households with multiple family members online.

Michael Flood, Kajeet鈥檚 senior vice president for education and general manager, added that hotspots are still a better solution for students who aren鈥檛 always learning at home. 鈥淣ot all hotspots are equal,鈥� he said, adding that some are five times as fast as the ones many districts purchased and distributed last year.

In Congress, Democrats in the House and Senate are hoping to turn the temporary Emergency Connectivity Fund into a five-year, $40 billion program. The proposed could turn up as future legislation under the $3.5 trillion Democrats unveiled Monday.

For now, districts are trying to comply with the fine print for the new program. That includes estimating how many students need devices or internet service.

Another requirement is that districts can鈥檛 use the funds to provide devices or broadband to students who have been served under another state or federal program, such as last year鈥檚 relief funds. In fact, in some districts where students already had devices, officials used those earlier funds to pay for at-home internet. That鈥檚 one reason why they鈥檙e waiting for a second application window as their needs this year become clearer.

The connectivity fund 鈥渋s an off-shoot of a program that has a history of being tight on rules and regulations,鈥� Marwell said, referring to E-Rate. 鈥淭he last thing a school wants to do is spend a million on home broadband and find out they didn鈥檛 follow these rules.鈥�