District leaders looking for broadband solutions and better deals with providers can search local internet speeds and pricing information on a new website launched this week.
The site, Connect K-12, features a national dashboard that tracks states’ progress toward meeting the Federal Communications Commission’s bandwidth goal of 1 Mbps per student in every school nationwide.
“Connect K-12 will equip state and school district leaders with the powerful intelligence they need to identify better internet pricing and negotiate cost-effective upgrades to meet this demand,” said Emily Jordan. vice president of Connect K-12. “This will ultimately empower leaders to ensure digital learning opportunities are available for every student.”
The site, which was developed by nonprofit Connected Nation in partnership with Funds For Learning Inc., continues the work of nonprofit EducationSuperHighway, which sunset in August.
More from DA: 8 steps your governor should be taking to expand broadband
In conjunction with the website launch, Connected Nation released a report that examines the current state of classroom connectivity across the U.S.
Highlights of the report include:
- 47% of districts are already meeting the 1 Mbps per student goal, representing 15.4 million students and 6,132 school districts
- 31.9 million students do not have access to the bandwidth needed for digital learning to happen in every classroom, every day
- 67% of students still need access to scalable broadband for digital learning
- 33% of districts can be upgraded in the 2020-2021 school year, about 4,300 school districts nationwide
- Prior to the pandemic, 81% of teachers said they “strongly agree” or “agree” they see great value in using digital learning tools
- During the pandemic, 93% percent of teachers now report providing at least some instruction online
- 44 governors—including those from both highly populated and largely rural states—have committed to achieving the FCC’s 1 Mbps per student bandwidth goal
“In response to the pandemic, millions of devices have been purchased to enable learning everywhere, and as in-person classes eventually return, those devices will be connected to school networks and will fuel the need for greater bandwidth,” said Brent Legg, Connected Nation’s executive vice president for government affairs. “Connect K-12 will provide state and school district leaders with the insights they need to meet that demand head-on.”
More from DA: Why educators want to stick with video beyond COVID
