When Los Angeles district schools went remote at the start of the pandemic, the school system鈥檚 digital divide was thrown into sharp relief 鈥� making clear many low income students lacked reliable Wi-Fi at home. Unable to connect made it nearly impossible for those students to attend online classes or complete school work. 

In May, LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced the partnership with AT&T, providing Wi-Fi 鈥渋n the initial stage鈥� for about 60,000 students. The new initiative uses short-term federal funding to cover nearly all of the cost. Carvalho said federal money would likely cover a second year for participating students.

About lack broadband service, LAUSD has estimated. And, according to a survey conducted last year, 84 percent of families, most low income, had issues accessing a good internet connection at home. 

鈥淭his is a really big deal that LAUSD is doing this,鈥� said Executive Director from Great Public Schools Now Ana Ponce. 鈥淯nfortunately鈥esources are finite.鈥�

鈥淭here is a chance that LAUSD may not have the funds to provide this beyond a year or two,鈥� Ponce said, 鈥渟o what is the long term solution for those 90,000 (students)?鈥�

Ponce also raised issues about using hotspots distributed by LAUSD.

鈥淗otspots just aren’t great in general, they have drop off,鈥� she said. They don’t work for people when you have a lot of people accessing the same hotspot. And then literally in some communities, hotspots just don’t work.鈥� 

Evelyn Aleman, founder of Our Voice: Communities for Quality Education said length of time covered by the partnership is 鈥渘ot enough. Low-income communities have been severely impacted by the pandemic.鈥�

She said one of her clients, a mother supporting her low income family of three, 鈥渨as paying $80 for the internet. She had to get rid of the service because she just couldn鈥檛 afford it. One year simply isn鈥檛 enough for parents like her.鈥�

LAUSD district 7 board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin, who sponsored a resolution last year calling on LAUSD to make sure all students had access to Wi-Fi, commended the district and AT&T for the initiative, but expressed concern families might not know how to install the internet in their homes. 

 鈥淕overnment鈥� should be providing the Internet similar to how we provide public utilities like water and electricity,鈥� said Ortiz Franklin. 鈥淢y hope is… we can continue to not only pay for this service鈥� but we can also get it covered by the federal government.鈥�

This article is part of a collaboration between 社区黑料 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 

Veronica Sierra is a junior pursuing a journalism degree at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She was born and raised in Valencia, Venezuela; and moved to California in 2015 where she continued high school, graduating in 2020.