This is what happened when the coronavirus really hit hard and Dayton Public Schools had to mobilize school buses with lunches and mobile hotspots to low income households.
I'm seeing this problem as well. I have been in a state of absolute frustration.
I'm on a waiting list for a mobile hotspot for both of my boys to complete school assignments.
Dayton Public Schools decided to do virtual learning for the first quarter of school. According to the article, the school system issued one mobile hotspots per household.
There are areas in this country where kids have to got to public libraries, McDonald's, Wendy's, or other places that provide wireless internet to do homework, write papers, take quizzes, take tests. Sometimes the wireless internet can come from the community recreational centers or your neighborhood churches.
The coronavirus deepened the digital divide in the Dayton area when it hit.
Here's an excerpt from that Dayton Daily News article.
Students at Trotwood-Madison City Schools will be taught completely remotely for at least the first nine weeks.
“We are hopeful that the COVID-19 case numbers in Montgomery County will decrease to the point that we can consider the blended or in-person options in the near future,” said Trotwood Superintendent Reva Cosby in a statement to the district.
Here's another that ties with rural areas that don't have access or can't afford it.
Virginia Ward of Trotwood said she struggled as her two foster children in high school and two elementary school students she provided child care for tried this spring to complete school online.
“It was just a waste,” she said. “They couldn’t get on the internet a lot of times. When they are presenting something via video, the computer’s not fast enough, the internet is not good enough ... You might get five words and it stops, and five more and it stops. I mean it was terrible.”
Wired internet service stops 1,000 feet short of Ward’s Sycamore Woods neighborhood.
“We still can’t get good internet service out here,” Ward said. “The other problem: a lot can’t afford internet.”
I live in this area. It's suburban and rural at the same time.
This is why I vote. This affects my kids. This affects my community.
I'm ready to vote my conscience in November.
I'm ready to vote BidenHarris 2020.
I'm ready for internet infrastructure.
Our schools need internet infrastructure.
Our communities need internet infrastructure.
Our businesses need internet infrastructure.