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A good test case for Biden’s broadband plan: Appalachia’s digital divide – Source CNET Internet News

For one public school teacher in Laurel County, Kentucky, proper education means making a painful and difficult decision. While her home is connected to AT&T’s U-Verse internet service, it’s only fast enough to support one person at a time. So in the midst of a pandemic-driven mandate for remote learning, she often has to choose between teaching her students and ensuring her own school-age kids are able to log on. 

“We have really done a horrible job making sure they have the means,” said the teacher, who requested we withhold her name out of fear of losing her job. 

One pandemic-driven solution in Kentucky has been to put mobile hotspots in public school parking lots so kids without internet at home can keep up with schoolwork, but that isn’t without its own flaws.

“If they don’t have gas money to come and get their child at the school when they’re sick, they’re sure not going to have gas money to drive to the school every day to download their assignments,” she said. 

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Source CNET Internet News

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