Rural broadband? a problem for kids stuck at home

(MissouriNet) — COVID-19 led to Missouri’s K through 12 schools shuttering their doors in mid-March and coming up with a way to reach students in a matter of days. The pandemic has shined a light on the internet connectivity gap felt by Missouri students and shows that the problem stretches through rural and urban Missouri. State Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven says a department survey shows one in five Missouri students – about 200,000 – do not have broadband internet access and cannot learn online.

(as said) “That’s too many. One in five. We have to maximize and we have to work together because who’s going to tolerate one in five kids,” asks Vandeven.

The survey, with responses from the state’s 555 school districts and charter schools, says affordability of internet service and devices is the main problem.