The unprecedented interruption of the 2020 school year has laid bare inequities in our system, with one in five California students (over 1 million) lacking either connectivity or a device, a staggering need. The pandemic has forced schools and school districts to make on-the-fly decisions about how to continue instruction and care of students. Some…
Digital Divide
The Oakland REACH Virtual Family Hub in Action #REACHforMore
For the past four weeks, the Oakland REACH has been doing something that has never been done before: opening and operating a virtual summer school for Black and Brown kids through a Virtual Family Hub. Every parent — regardless of where we are from or how much money we have — wants what is best…
As Schools Reopen, 16.9 Million Children Still Lack Internet Access, With Students of Color Hit the Hardest
We’ve been sounding the alarm about how dire students’ internet access problems are in this country throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and we wish we had better news to share with you today on that front. Unfortunately, according to a new report, fully 16.9 million children in the U.S. lack proper internet access to get online…
A local-to-global perspective on the digital divide in Oakland
When Anietie “Nate” Udofia thinks about the digital divide in Oakland, and the “new normal” public education is facing because of the pandemic, he does so with a global perspective. Udofia is a Nigerian American who has decades of experience working on distance learning and helping communities gain access to digital tools. He sees similarities…
The Oakland REACH is taking on the digital divide #REACHforMore
By Lakisha Young, Executive Director, The Oakland REACH There’s no doubt this has been a really hard time for black and brown families in Oakland. But WOW, yesterday, was awesome. And we really needed it. The Oakland REACH came together – in partnership with a block of black-owned businesses on MacArthur Boulevard – to distribute…