Even before the pandemic, more than 25 million Americans lacked access to broadband internet. But even when they can get online, students of color and low-income families were more likely to share a single device. Today, when strong internet connectivity is all but required for learning, such gaps can serve as insurmountable barriers to learning.
The state of Connecticut thinks it may have found a straightforward solution to the problem: Give every student in grades K-12 a laptop and pay for their internet. And for the past few months, the state has quietly been rolling it out. Recently, the state announced that it had achieved near universal access for both device distribution and connectivityâa significant achievement in a state where 40 percent of households in some cities lack home access, according to census data.