Some schools and teachers think districts should pay for teachers' at-home internet access as schools are shifted to distance learning. | Unsplash
With teachers educating their students from home and school closures likely to continue for most of the year, questions are arising over who should be paying for teachers' internet access.
According to Ed Week, having reliable internet can be expensive for some, but with all teachers working from home, internet is needed to continue working.
An Ed Week Research Center survey found that only 1% of schools or districts were paying for high-speed wireless internet at home even though it's a requirement for their work.
Sabia Prescott, a policy analyst for New America, told Ed Week districts would, in an ideal world, be paying for high-speed broadband, but many districts lack the funding.
The survey found that 96% of teachers do have wireless high-speed internet at home, but teachers in more removed and rural areas don't have such internet and are relying on mobile hotspots or Wi-Fi that reaches to parking lots or empty schools.
Many assume that teachers all have access to high-speed internet, one teacher told Ed Week.
To make matters more difficult, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act took away the ability of teachers to write off internet bills and data plans in 2018. Now, teachers can only deduct up to $250 a year for supplies.
One superintendent, Matthew Gutierrez, told Ed Week his district is giving $50 internet stipends to 500 teachers for April and May.
“Although the $50 a month isn’t a lot,” Gutierrez told Ed Week, “it’s something to show that at the school district, I acknowledge the extra that they are doing, and I acknowledge the fact that they are extremely stressed right now.”
While the CARES Act has resulted in $13.5 injection of funds into the school system, this funding is likely not enough to cover all of the needs such as keeping all teachers employed.
Gutierrez and some other superintendents believe that helping teachers with their internet bills may offer a good deal of support even if it's just emotional support for struggling teachers.
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