Buffalo New York is facing the same homework gap that most school systems are seeing. The city had spent millions of dollars to upgrade broadband to bring computer technology into the classroom but now has numerous students unable to use a digital curriculum due to not having broadband at their homes. Like everywhere else, the city sees that students without home broadband lag behind everybody else.
The City recently decided to tackle a portion of the homework gap and has approved building a WiFi network that will reach the homes of 5,500 students living in downtown Buffalo. They have approved a $1.3 million project to construct a wireless network that will extend the bandwidth available at the schools to surrounding neighborhoods.
Buffalo has what it calls digital deserts, with neighborhoods where more than half of households have no Internet access. This contrasts sharply with other parts of the city and with Erie County as a whole, where 80% of all households are online (with that statistic is depressed by including the digital deserts). The richest parts of the city have neighborhoods with nearly 90% broadband coverage, while there is one neighborhood in downtown with only a 31% household broadband penetration. The WiFi project is targeting two neighborhoods on the east side of downtown where the neighborhoods collectively have only a 40% broadband penetration.
The city is mounting antennas on top of eight downtown schools and other government-owned buildings. These installations take advantage of the gigabit bandwidth already available at City buildings. The network is being designed to reach students living within about two miles of each of the locations. For now, this first trial covers perhaps 5% of the total area of the city but covers neighborhoods with some of the highest needs in terms of students without home broadband.
Students will be able to log onto the school network using the same login used at school. The broadband connection will be limited to access the school network and is not intended to provide normal household broadband. The network will allow students into the highly controlled and curated school network that gives students access schoolwork, school-sponsored video and some access to the web for homework research.
Having access to a computer or tablet is the other half of the homework gap problem. Homes without broadband likely also don’t have computers. The city is working on a plan to let students take home laptops. Last year only seniors were able to take home school laptops, but in this coming year that is being expanded to all high school students in some schools. The city is exploring how to provide devices to students in grades 3 to 8.
Like other school systems, the city understands that smartphones are not the answer. While many students have smartphones, the devices are inadequate for doing homework, and students that try to wade through homework with smartphones fall behind from the frustration of using a small screen for big-screen applications.
Affordability is the main barrier to broadband in many households. In downtown Buffalo, there are three broadband options. The most affordable package from Charter, the incumbent cable company is $64.99. Verizon offers a slow low-price DSL option at $29.99, but this connection is too slow to connect to the school network to do homework. There is also an ISP, BarrierFree, that offers $100 broadband for businesses.
The city is also exploring free citywide WiFi that would bring broadband to everybody, not just to students. There is no easy answer to the homework gap, but perhaps Buffalo’s start is a model that can be explored by others. Recently the Government Accounting Office recommended that the FCC study the idea of using Schools and Libraries funds from the Universal Service Funds to reach students at home. If that fund can help pay for this kind of application, perhaps we can solve the homework gap neighborhood by neighborhood.