Bill Would Provide Free Broadband To All NY Students

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — A new bill was introduced Tuesday that would bring free broadband to every student and school in the state during the new coronavirus emergency.

Sens. Shelley Mayer, D-Yonkers, Pete Harckham, D-South Salem, and John Liu, D-Queens, said the E-LEARN Act would address the digital divide, which is a problem for low-income and minority students and districts in cities, suburbs and rural areas throughout the state.

Mayer said that, in the face of the pandemic, every child needs to have quality internet access.

"Today, broadband access is essential to ensuring a sound, basic education for every student," she said.

The legislation would provide free internet for students age 5 to 21 at their homes, whether they live in a house, apartment, homeless shelter or elsewhere.

Mayer said the program would be funded through an assessment on the annual intrastate revenue of Telecommunications Service Providers.

Harckham said the bill will help level the playing field for those in low-income and underserved communities, including rural areas.

"The best way to eliminate educational inequity is by ensuring excellent resources and technologies are available for all students throughout the state," he said.

Willie J. Troman, president of the Spring Valley NAACP, called the E-LEARN bill a "civil rights bill" and urged its passage.

"The disproportionate impact on children of color resulting from COVID-19 underpins the urgency of Sen. Shelley Mayer's E-LEARN legislation," he said. "Remote learning requires a laptop computer and internet access. For many children of color, it's the equivalent of excluding them from school."