"High Quality Broadband Is Critical for Student Learning'" Letter to the editor Tom Denton

High Quality Broadband Is Critical for Student Learning

Many of us in Ulster County have observed our own school age children and college students or have been listening to neighbors and friends weigh in on how their kids have fared the past two months with the abrupt, COVID-forced distance learning from schools.  Some students—mostly independent, highly motivated learners—have prospered academically, at least.  Others, whose skills and inclinations suggest they need social and supportive arrangements in schools to succeed, might have struggled with the online lessons our admirable educators have created in short order.  Nationally, we’re having critical debates about the extent to which online learning can or should be woven into future K-12 curricula and about the tuition charges higher education should demand for off-campus semesters.

These debates are moot for the many families whose neighborhoods and regions are poorly served by broadband.  These students without a quality internet connection are doomed to fall behind their more privileged peers.

Fortunately, Ulster has been well-served by its state and congressional representatives who have worked diligently to use the power of government to bring broadband to our underserved, often rural areas.  Senator Jen Metzger (D-Rosendale) has introduced bills that require the Public Service Commission to “study the availability, affordability, and reliability of high-speed internet and broadband access in New York State and produce a detailed access map on its website that indicates internet service by location.”  Another would require the Commission to be a more effective watchdog on internet providers, especially those with monopolies, to ensure they meet required standards.  Congressman Antonio Delgado (D-Rhinebeck) successfully pressed the Federal Communications Commission to direct federal funding to Ulster for broadband after it initially deemed the county unqualified.

Metzger and Delgado are examples of elected representatives who have kept their promises to improve the lives of the people who elected them.

Publishing history

Shawangunk Journal, Hudson Valley 360     5/28/20

Daily Freeman 5/23/