Let’s stop playing games with the connectivity crisis
When I was a child, my friends and I played a game called “Hot Potato.” We would stand in a circle and toss a ball from person to person while music played. The goal was to not be the person left holding the “hot potato” whenever the music stopped because that would eliminate you from the game. Round after round one sad player would leave the circle, left to watch the others test strategies and luck in their desperate attempts to avoid the potato and ultimately emerge victorious.
Years later, I find myself part of a much larger, higher-stakes version of this game as public systems, private entities, and individuals toss around ownership of Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s connectivity gap. No one wants to be left holding the responsibility of ensuring families have equitable access to home internet. However, as students now rely on the internet to connect with their teachers, peers and support networks during the ongoing pandemic, we can no longer wait to address this issue.
According to U.S. Census data, 15 percent of households in Mecklenburg County do not have internet. This would indicate that nearly 16,000 homes with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students lack internet access. A recent report published by the global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, in partnership with national nonprofit Common Sense, suggests this number is even higher as Census data relies on self-reporting and data provided by internet service providers. In our increasingly digital society, this connectivity gap has disadvantaged a large segment of students and families for years. Our current crisis is rapidly exacerbating inequities as school buildings remain closed due to COVID-19 risks. At no fault of their own, thousands of students do not have adequate resources to fully engage in learning and are isolated from their school communities.
Unequivocally, our school district plays a leading role in equipping students with the tools they need to learn. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has purchased and deployed more than 120,000 laptops and iPads for students who must now learn in remote environments. Despite these efforts, the critical issue of internet connectivity in our community must also be addressed. This is why the CMS Foundation, the district’s nonprofit fundraising partner, launched the “Connect for Tech” initiative to help close the connectivity gap for CMS students. We are asking public systems, corporations and individuals to come together to ensure every child in CMS has access to learning regardless of their families’ financial circumstances.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is investing $1 million in “Connect for Tech,” and we are asking the broader community to help secure the additional $3.2 million needed to address this disparity. The connectivity gap Charlotte-Mecklenburg faces is not due to the actions — or inaction— of one system, nor did it begin with the pandemic. It is the outcome of a decades-long game of Hot Potato, the skilled passing of ownership and blame for the inequities, resource gaps, and systemic failures severely impacting our children and their families. No one player can win this alone, and we must act now.
In our role as the trusted bridge between private donors and our school system, the CMS Foundation works to leverage private resources to help meet the needs of our public schools. You can learn more about our efforts and support the work at cms-foundation.org/relief. We encourage you to be a part of collaborative solutions to support our students – and our entire community – during this crisis and increase their access to opportunities.
The CMS Foundation is urgently asking this community to change the game. We must work together and hold our entire community responsible for closing the connectivity gap and supporting our students’ success.
When the music stops, we can all emerge victorious.