This week, Berkeley Unified launched a new program to provide free, high-speed, fiber-optic internet for all students.
When public schools switched to remote learning, getting students online became imperative. The digital divide quickly became the focus of the conversation about educational equity: those lacking access to the internet or a computer could not learn.
Since schools shuttered on March 13, Berkeley Unified has distributed 580 hotspots to students who lacked reliable internet and 4,000 Chromebooks in an effort to address the digital divide. But as the pandemic has worn on, demand for internet access has grown.
“Students that may have had stable internet access or housing at the beginning of the pandemic are now losing those due to loss of family employment,” Valerie Kratzer, development coordinator at Berkeley Public Schools Fund, wrote in an email. “Every day now I receive requests for financial support to keep a family’s internet from being turned off or a re