What began as an effort to ensure Oakland school children could learn as their families coped with COVID-19 will expand to ensure all students from pre-kindergarten to college have access to a computer, the internet and culturally competent tech support.
But, by the end of the 2020-21 school year, #OaklandUndivided joined the community together, raising web access from 12 percent to 98 percent among to public school students from low-income families.
That work involved giving out more than 29,000 laptop computers, more than 10,000 hotspots and responding to more than 10,000 requests for technical support.#OaklandUndivided is aiming to close the gap completely by providing web access, a computer and tech support to the other 2 percent of low-income families with public school children.
#OaklandUndivided is also expanding access to be sure all 50,000-plus Oakland public school students, from pre-K to college, have the same resources. "What you all are doing here is absolutely amazing," said Scott Adams, deputy director of broadband and digital literacy at the California Department of Technology.Disconnected homes are primarily low-income and Black and Hispanic homes, said Geoffrey Starks, a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission.Some have said,"The future is already here. It's just not evenly distributed," Starks remarked.
Building on two efforts including a $7.7 million investment of the city's CARES Act money, #OaklandUndivided in five years aims to connect 90 percent of the estimated 36,000 unconnected households in the city.Copyright BAYCN - Bay City News