Capito, King call for expansion of Internet access to close “homework gap”

U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Angus King (I-ME) called for an expansion of efforts to expand Internet access on Wednesday that were included in an education reform bill last year.

Capito and King introduced the Digital Learning Equity Act, S. 1606, last year to establish a pilot program within the U.S. Department of Education to help find innovative ways to help students connect to the Internet outside of the classroom.

“Portions of our bill were adopted without opposition as amendments to the Senate’s Every Child Achieves Act, including a provision to allow funds within the bill’s standalone education technology program to support student access to the Internet outside of the school day,” Capito and King wrote in a letter to Secretary of Education John King. “We ask that the department permit this use of funds, as it has previously done under the existing Title I program.”

The senators also successfully inserted a provision into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bill in July that ensured that digital services and devices like mobile hotspots would be eligible for federal education technology funding.

“Whether completing a homework assignment, participating in innovative learning models, communicating with a teacher outside of the school day, or applying to college or a job, access to the Internet and digital learning resources outside of the classroom is now a fundamental educational resource,” Capito and King wrote. “However, nearly one-third of low-income households with children lack a high-speed connection at home, even though teachers in 96 percent of school districts assign homework that requires Internet use. This divide disproportionately impacts minority, low-income, and rural students, precisely the young people that ESEA is intended to support.”

The law also authorized a study on the homework gap to provide data on how Internet access impacts learning and instruction to shape future policies.