TOM WILLIAMS: Broadband access, an essential public education utility for every student

In times of crisis, our society sees its most glaring vulnerabilities rise to the surface for more people to see and experience firsthand. Likewise, and most fortunately, these crises also bring to the forefront the resilience and strengths of our society and stimulate innovation and collaboration among all in our communities. COVID-19 is such a crisis and our state and nation are seeing how this dreadful new disease is causing havoc comparable to a natural disaster or even a war.

Our health systems, businesses, economies, public services, and our everyday way of life have been drastically altered in a fashion most of us have never experienced. We have a lot that needs to be done on what will be a demanding road back to full recovery.

Fortunately, while our state and local leaders work tirelessly to mitigate the immediate and long term harm, they are also proactively looking to what can be done now that will make us a better state as we move onto the other side of this pandemic. With our statewide K through 12 schools, community colleges, and universities closed for traditional learning, our move to remote or online learning has put on public display one of our state’s most egregious vulnerabilities, the need for expanded availability and access to broadband connectivity for all.

In addition to broadband, just like most of us as working adults, remote learning requires our K through 12 students to have access to an appropriate device that affords them the capacity to fully participate in meeting the academic requirements to stay on track. While many parents are able to provide these new basic learning tools, creative problem solving, and school partnerships are necessary to address the home broadband access and device gap one student at a time.

In many cases, students are learning at home using their school issued device due to the investments made in one-to-one device initiatives or by distributing devices to students who do not have one at home.

As the broadband gap has become more consequential than ever before, we have seen a growing number of innovative strategies in local communities to ease the barriers caused by no home access to broadband either due to no available providers or lack of household income to purchase this essential service. In addition to thousands of hotspot devices being issued to students by schools and community partners to connect via cell towers, county government, schools, businesses, churches, and other community parking lots are providing Wi-Fi hotspots allowing learning to continue as well as the essential virtual face-to-face meeting with their teachers and classmates.

The great news is over the past few decades, the data clearly illustrates North Carolina’s track record of progress made by our elected state and local leaders, and the public institutions governed by them, in advancing broadband access and availability.

North Carolina should rightfully be proud to be recognized as a leader in the southeast, as well as across the nation, for investing in an effective broadband strategy and the essential role it plays in the economic, educational, workforce development, cultural, and civic engagement for a better post COVID-19 North Carolina. Our progress is to be applauded. However, let’s commit as a state to work together in achieving a common goal to assure that the broadband access and availability gap is not just reduced, but eliminated in the near future.

In the current era, access to the internet should be regarded as an essential public utility much like quality highways, water and sewer, and cell phone access that should be available to all. North Carolina can do this and must do this. Our students, businesses, and citizens are counting on it!