From smartphones and tablets to laptops and 3D-printers, rapid technological changes are quickly changing how students learn in the classroom. And as result, some students are left behind due to the lack of internet access at home.
In U.S. households with school-aged children, 31.4 percent of families with an income of less than $50,000 lack at-home internet access compared with only 8.4 percent of households with annual income of more than $50,000, a 2015 Pew Research Report found. The disparity, also known as the homework gap, was widest in Black households earning less than $50,000 a year at 38.6 percent, followed by Hispanic families, white and Asian by 37.4 percent, 24.6 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively.
Launched in August 2017, Sprint’s 1Million Project aims to give one million families with school-aged children access to home internet. Last month, the company’s nonprofit arm announced that it had received a $90,000 donation from rapper Lil Wayne. The donation will go towards funding 1,500 hotspot devices for students in Houston, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Chicago, all of which were on Lil Wayne’s recent tour, according to a company statement.
A portion of the donation will go toward devices for Chicago-area students, said Jim Mills, Sprint’s region president for the Midwest. The company has distributed devices to more than 15,500 students Chicago Public Schools, the DuPage County Schools, Township 211 and Youth Connection Charter Schools, Mills said. The nonprofit has also partnered with companies like Samsung and LG to distribute the devices.
“Our [Executive Chairman] Marcelo Claure had learned about [the homework gap] through some things that he was doing. When he took a look at Sprint and the position we’re in to help that, it became a no-brainer to go after this segment and really do some good,” Mills said.
A spokesperson for Sprint said the devices “will be allocated and distributed in the near future.” Darlene Ruscitti, regional superintendent of schools for DuPage County confirmed via email that students within its school system had received devices as part of the 1Million Project. Chicago Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.
Given that Sprint holds a stake in the Tidal streaming service, the company is able to connect with artists like Lil Wayne that stream their music on the platform and let them know what nonprofit initiatives they’re working on, Mills said.
“When a celebrity steps up and does something like that, it’s not only the dollars they give, which is amazing, but it’s also the awareness to the project that helps us out,” Mills said.
