I have urged Portland Public Schools to provide laptops to all its high school students and to expand its offerings of online learning (especially classes independent of the brick-and-mortar schools). Now, as the Oregonian article “New school year brings cheaper Internet access for poor families, pilot iPad program in Portland school” by Mike Rogoway reports, PPS is taking some beginning steps (here):
To win federal approval for its acquisition of NBC-Universal early this year, Comcast agreed to provide discounted Internet access to low-income families across the country. Service is now available for $10 a month, $30 less than Comcast's standard price.
At the same time, Portland Public Schools will use tax revenue paid by Comcast to fund a pilot technology program at Roosevelt High School in North Portland.
The district will equip teachers with iPads this year, and will buy an iPad for all 850 students at Roosevelt next year.
And :
Comcast's service is available to families with students who qualify for free lunches through the federal school lunch program. The company estimates that 160,000 students qualify for the discounts throughout its service territory in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Portland Public Schools said Tuesday that it doesn't have data on how many of its students have Internet access at home, but said only 65 percent of families have e-mail addresses on file with the district.
The article reports that PPS paid $180,000 for 325 iPads, or $554 each.
Even $10 per month for internet access at home seems too expensive for many poor families. Can’t we find a cheaper way to get internet access everywhere for financially stressed students.
Kudos to PPS for making this move! I hope there is much more to come.
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