When most people think of the Coachella Valley, they think of Palm Springs, warm weather and ritzy resorts. Almost no one understands that they area is also home to some of the nation’s most grinding poverty.
That’s why Adams recently penned an editorial for the area’s largest daily newspaper, the Desert Sun, to explain why and how he expects to achieve his mission.
Adams reported that “A Coachella Valley High School student used his school-issued iPad in his special education class to help set up a recycling project for fellow students. His world opened up, his teacher said. But when Eli went home, he had no high-speed Internet connection to do his homework.”
He also noted that “In May, the Coachella Valley Unified School District successfully completed a districtwide rollout of iPads to 20,000 pre-K-12 students in 23 schools. But too many of our students, such as Eli, are left in the digital dark after they leave school. It’s like going home without the necessary textbook.”
The Coachella Valley Unified School District is one of the newest members of an organization known as the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools. This is quite an honor because only 57 districts across the country have been chosen by Digital Promise for successfully integrating technology into the learning process.
What, you may ask, is Digital Promise. Good question. It’s an independent, bipartisan nonprofit authorized by Congress.
“I will be honored to report that 67 percent of voters in one of California’s poorest school districts passed the 2012 bond measure that allowed us to distribute the iPads,” Adamns continued, “making Coachella Valley USD one of the first school districts in the nation to complete a full iPad rollout to every student from preschool through high school.”
Adams will sit in with U.S. Department of Education leaders at the White House and the Federal Communications Commission and he intends to deliver his message so loudly and clearly that it cannot be missed:
“We need to make affordable Internet available to all low-income households so our entire community, whether they live in trailer parks or migrant worker housing, can thrive and our students can have all of the tools needed to thrive.”
One of his primary concerns is a proposed deal by Comcast, the nation’s largest cable television company, to acquire Time-Warner Cable, the nation’s second largest cable television company. He says the acquisition is key to improving the lives of millions of Californians and for the 16,000 students who live in poverty in his district.
The team traveling to Washington, DC includes a who’s who of public servants including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles County officials, former California Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin and dozens of California nonprofit organization leaders. They will demand that the FCC take a long, hard look at the proposed Comcast-Time Warner purchase.
“Should the FCC approve the merger,” Adams said, “we are urging FCC to hold Comcast accountable for expanding and improving its affordable broadband offer, called Internet Essentials for families with students on free-or-reduced lunch, which was proposed by Comcast to secure approval of its purchase of NBC Universal in 2010.”
Adams complains that in three and a half years, Time Warner’s Internet Essentials-like program has reached just 46,273 California households. That’s only 14% of the state’s eligible households. “In what classroom is 14 percent a passing grade?” Adams asked.
Although we certainly agree that the Comcast-Time Warner acquisition should be reviewed very carefully and that approval of the merger should be contingent on Time Warner adopting a program similar to Internet Essentials, we feel compelled to note that Adams may be pleasantly surprised by Comcast’s commitment to providing needy Americans with inexpensive internet.
Here’s how the Desert Sun described Time Warner’s lack of success with the program in the Coachella Valley:
“TWC, the largest Internet service provider in Coachella Valley, launched a similar pilot program. By any measure, that program was and is not successful. According to the California Emerging Technology Fund, TWC enrolled just 1,200 families nationally in 500 schools. Comcast has said it will extend Internet Essentials to new customers it acquires under the TWC deal. But the performance of Comcast on Internet Essentials in the recent past is not reassuring. For years, TWC has refused to extend service in many of Coachella Valley’s rural enclaves.”
Comcast, on the other hand, has had huge success with its Internet Essentials program and Adams should hope that it brings its experience and expertise to his area.
In its latest annual report, Comcast reports that more than 300,000 financially-struggling Americans have signed up for its discounted Internet Essentials service. Comcast has also provided digital literacy training for more than 1.6 million people and sold 23,000 low-cost computers.
Regardless of Comcast’s commitment to the program and the widely-hailed success it has shown, Adams wants the FCC to require the following:
- Expand Internet Essentials to include all low-income households (especially people with disabilities, seniors and returning vets).
- Set performance standards (reach 45 percent of eligible households in 2 years —which would be about 500,000 households in California).
- Capitalize an independent fund to support community organizations to help reach the new performance standard.
- Establish a national oversight committee to ensure performance.
- Offer stand-alone Internet service.
We support the goals of Adams and his team in Washington, DC, but we also think its unfair to criticize a company that’s done as much for needy Americans as Comcast has.
Adams concluded his Desert Sun editorial with this:
“The five members of the FCC (all appointed by the president) have the fate of 30 percent of the nation’s residents in their hands with the authority to make an immediate transforming difference in our communities. The voters have done their part by giving our students the latest devices, now we need affordable Internet in the Coachella Valley.”
We agree. But let’s give credit where credit is due, Superintendent Adams.
Source: Desert Sun
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