New Jersey Gov. says digital divide among students is 'closed'

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The New Jersey Department of Education announced that the state has entirely closed its digital divide among students, connecting every K-12 public school student with the devices and broadband necessary to participate in digital classrooms. A survey of New Jersey school districts conducted by the state’s education department at the onset of the pandemic revealed that more than 100,000 students in the state could not access the internet at home and that school districts would need more than 150,000 additional devices to serve their students. Through a $54 million public school grant issued in July by Gov. Phil Murphy, along with an additional $6 million for private schools, the state gradually reduced the number of districts that reported a need for additional services, state education officials said. But New Jersey still has work to do. “For one thing, closing the connectivity gap doesn’t just involve providing broadband and devices — it requires digital literacy training to ensure adoption,” said Alicja Johnson, the communications manager of the Schools, Health, Library and Broadband Coalition. “Another cause for concern is that the governor’s comments only addressed the digital divide in the context of education, yet it’s not just students who need broadband. Will the resources that New Jersey is currently providing to the 231,000 students without at-home internet still be available to them when we’ve returned to ‘normal'”?


New Jersey Gov. says digital divide among students is 'closed'