Van Hollen Urges State of Maryland to Address Digital Divide with Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds

Statement

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) sent a letter to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, urging the State to use funding from the recently-passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to expand digital learning access for students across Maryland. The CARES Act includes new grant funds that can be used to provide web access and devices to students. As schools transition to distance learning, utilizing these funds will help ensure Maryland students are not left behind. Instead, with the right tools, teachers have the ability to create a digital classroom for these students at home. Within the CARES Act, Maryland is expected to receive approximately $45,681,000 in general education funding to be used at the Governor's discretion, an additional $207,834,000 in K-12 education funding, and $183,483,000 in higher education funding.

In his letter, Senator Van Hollen writes, "I urge you to dedicate some of this new grant funding to address the homework gap in districts that need help to meet their plans of delivering digital learning to their students. We must ensure equal access to distance learning for all students in Maryland. If not, children without computers or disconnected from the internet will be left on the wrong side of the digital divide."

He points to the urgency of this issue, underscoring, "The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the homework gap experienced by the estimated 12 million students in this country who do not have internet access at home and are unable to complete their homework. While some reports rank Maryland third in the nation in broadband coverage and speed, this statistic belies the affordability and accessibility challenges that remain in our state. Approximately 16 percent of Maryland households with school-aged children do not have broadband at home and an estimated 12 percent do not have a computer at home."

The Senator highlights the current situation in Maryland, noting, "Some Maryland school systems have already undertaken extraordinary efforts to ensure that all students are connected. Initially, Prince George's County Public Schools could not shift all classes online because they could not guarantee every student had access to technology and the internet. To resolve this issue, the school system will invest $2 million to guarantee that every student has access to a device that can connect to the internet and an affordable internet plan. Not every school system has the capacity to take such comprehensive steps and as a result some local parents have started soliciting donations to make sure that students in their schools have access to computers at home during this crisis."

The Senator closes the letter, stating, "I urge you to leverage federal resources to expand digital learning opportunities for Maryland students. We must work together in light of this unprecedented disruption of K-12 education. We cannot afford for students to be left behind during this pandemic."

In addition to this letter, the Senator has urged leadership to include dedicated funding for closing the homework gap within the federal coronavirus response. The Senator has also introduced legislation to address this systemic issue long-term.

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