Menendez, Booker Cosponsor Bill to Ensure All Students Have Internet Access during COVID-19 Pandemic

Press Release

U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker today joined a group of their colleagues in introducing legislation aimed to ensure all K-12 students have adequate home internet connectivity and devices during the pandemic. Without this access, students from lower-income backgrounds risk falling behind, which creates a "homework disparity" between them and their peers that have the adequate resources.

In order to prevent the spread of the virus, the State of New Jersey closed all schools on March 15 and districts have since transitioned to online learning. Last week, the State announced schools will remained closed for the remainder of the academic year. Still, according to New Jersey Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet, 90,000 students across New Jersey lack internet or devices to access online learning services.

"During this unprecedented time, we must ensure all of our students have the tools and resources to successfully continue their education," said Sen. Menendez. "Students in New Jersey and across the country are already facing extraordinary circumstances during this pandemic, and the federal government needs to do all they can to support their education. We must close this homework gap immediately and ensure no student, regardless of their family's economic status, falls behind."

"Even before the COVID outbreak, millions of American students who fall into the so-called "homework gap' have had to work twice as hard to get half as far. And a disproportionate number of these students live in lower-income communities, communities of color, indigenous communities, and rural communities," said Sen. Booker. "The shift toward distance learning has only made matters worse. Congress must step up and provide these students with the resources they need to continue learning."

In March, Booker called on the Trump Administration to allocate funding for mobile hotspots to support remote learning for students, and last week he formally reintroduced his Community Broadband Act to improve internet access in underserved communities.

Specifically, the Emergency Educational Connections Act would:

Provide $4 billion in federal support for elementary and secondary schools and libraries, including tribal schools and libraries, to provide Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, and internet-enabled devices (as well as internet service through such equipment) to students, staff, and patrons;
Allow schools and libraries to continue to use the equipment after the emergency period; and
Ensure schools and libraries prioritize support for those most in need, following the guidelines of the E-Rate program.
The E-Rate program, which was created as a part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, is an essential source of funding to connect the nation's schools and libraries to the internet. Since the E-Rate began nearly two decades ago, more than $52 billion has been committed nationwide to provide internet access for schools and libraries.

As the coronavirus pandemic develops, the E-Rate program offers an immediate solution that may help mitigate the impact on our most vulnerable families. Additional funding for E-Rate would greatly narrow the homework gap during the current crisis and help ensure that all students can continue to learn.

"This pandemic has laid bare the inequities that have long disadvantaged too many New Jersey students," NJEA Officers and Executive Leadership Team stated. "We applaud Senator Menendez and Senator Booker for leading the way in closing the digital divide and making sure that all students have access to the tools and resources they need to succeed in school and in life."

The legislation is also cosponsored by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Angus King (I-Maine), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Bob Casey, Jr. (D-Penn.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and John Tester (D-Mont.).

The Emergency Educational Connections Act is supported by the following organizations: AASA The School Superintendents Association, Advance CTE, Alliance for Excellent Education, American Federation of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, AFLCIO, American Library Association, American Psychological Association, American School Counselor Association, ASCD, Association for Career and Technical Education, Association of Educational Service Agencies, Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO), Children's Health Fund, Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), Committee for Children, Common Sense Media, CoSN - Consortium for School Networking, Council for Exceptional Children, Council of Administrators of Special Education, Family Centered Treatment Foundation, First Focus Campaign for Children, Girls Inc., IDEA Public Schools, International Society for Technology in Education, KIPP Foundation, Learning Forward, Magnet Schools of America, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, National Association for Music Education, National Association of Counties (NACo), National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS), National Association of Independent Schools, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), National Catholic Educational Association, National Center for Families Learning, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), National Education Association, National Forum to Accelerate, Middle-Grades Reform, National Rural Education Advocacy Consortium, National Rural Education Association, National School Boards Association (NSBA), Parents as Teachers, Public Knowledge, Project Tomorrow, Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK), SETDA (State Educational Technology Directors Association), Schools Healthy & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), Stand for Children, Teach For America and The Education Trust.

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