This city is giving super-fast internet to poor students

This city is giving super-fast internet to poor students

by Heather Kelly at CNN Money

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/10/technology/chattanooga-digital-divide-internet/

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Around 5 million homes with school-age children don't have high speed internet, according to the Pew Research Center. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, 22.5% of residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and nearly 25,000 kids are on the public school system's free and reduced lunch program.

Chattanooga is trying to close its "homework gap" with a pair of programs that help low-income families get online.

"We can't have digital gated communities. The power of the web should be an equalizer, not something that creates greater inequity," said Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke.

Last August, the city launched a program to offer discounted high-speed internet, called NetBridge, to households that have a student receiving free or discounted lunches (a common way to measure poverty). It also created a class called Tech Goes Home that teaches families basic internet skills, such as how to create an email address, pay bills online, or set privacy rules for kids. It also offers families a $50 Chromebook to use at home.



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