Children are being forced to learn from home due to school closures, and as many as 12 million do not have access to internet. Internet providers have signed the FCC's Keep Americans Connected Pledge, promising to provide internet to families in need. However, the children who face the most challenges are actually left out of this pledge. 

We are asking FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to urge all internet providers to provide free internet to ALL low-income families, even if they have prior debts or have applied for service previously. Internet providers are boasting of their efforts to provide free internet to families in poverty, but currently, millions of families across the country who are facing the most economic hardship are being rejected from these free internet offers. We all need to come together to bridge the digital divide, and corporations should not be allowed to block access to the schoolhouse door in pursuit of profit.

Meanwhile our most vulnerable children are unable to access e-learning and are missing critical days of instruction. These students already face the largest opportunity gaps, and denying them access to learning opportunities now is unconscionable. It is the job of the federal government to protect the right of these young people to a free, public education.

We are not alone in this demand. A group of the nation's strongest education leaders sent a letter to the chairman demanding this same thing. The telecomms companies will not act on their own. We need the FCC's leadership on this immediately. Our children most in need cannot wait!