There’s a stark disconnect between our era of internet connectivity and a looming sense of detachment, separation and seclusion for some students in K-12 schools.

On March 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to close the US Department of Education and return education oversight to state and local communities. A signed executive order will not lead to an immediate shutdown unless Congress approves. However, with this executive order in motion, it’s only a matter of time before it sets the stage for a potential homework gap worse than we experienced during the pandemic.

For decades, the US Department of Education was seen as a cornerstone for promoting educational resources and opportunities for students nationwide. However, the executive order to dismantle the department could change that. Eliminating the department will likely have a negative impact on student broadband access.

The department is responsible for distributing federal funds that schools can use for broadband programs. Without it, there would be no large oversight on how these funds can be used to bridge the broadband gap for students. Broadband access is critical for students to succeed in school and beyond. 

Lack of internet access can pose challenges when completing schoolwork, staying connected with friends and overall interest in school activities. According to Pew Research Center Data from 2018, around 17% of children nationwide could not complete their homework due to limited internet access. Another study in 2020 showed that 50% of low-income families and 42% of families of color complained about lacking the technology required for online learning. 

On March 19, I visited the Renaissance at Rand Middle School in Montclair, New Jersey, a magnet school with over 213 students from grades six through eight. 

I spoke with eight students, ages 11 to 13. When asked about their home internet, two of the eight students said they’ve had issues in the past due to storm-related power outages. Almost all of the students discussed using their home internet for schoolwork and leisure activities such as streaming, online gaming and scrolling on social media.

“There are definitely a lot of resources on the internet that can help me finish my work. If I don’t understand a math problem, I can just look it up, or if I need to study, I can just create a quizlet,” Jacob, a 13-year-old eighth grader, said. 

Most students discussed relying on their home internet to complete weekly assignments through online learning platforms such as ALEKS and IXL. 

Established in 1979, the Department of Education wears many hats, from overseeing the federal student loan process to monitoring educational progress through the nation’s report card. But one thing that’s often overlooked about this department is its importance in keeping students connected to the internet. 

Department of Education funding: What do students need to know?

In addition to advocating for education and collecting data on the nation’s schools, the Department of Education administers federal student loans to more than 46.2 million borrowers nationwide. 

When it comes to public school funding, the department is partially responsible for sending money to public schools through funding from state and federal governments, according to NPR. Federal funding only accounts for 6% to 13% of the total, with state and other funds making up the difference, according to a 2018 report from the US Government Accountability Office. Public schools can allocate some of this funding toward installing Wi-Fi internet hotspots in schools or working with libraries to make hotspots available for patrons. 

The Department of Education’s role isn’t to raise funds but to funnel them to where they’re needed. It’s worth noting that while the department administers several programs established by federal agencies, these programs are not explicitly established to support broadband access in schools. Still, they can help school districts and higher education institutions. Title I, Part A funds, for example, can support broadband access in K-12 schools. 

Several other department-led program funds that may be used for broadband access in schools are: 

Check out the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s funding guide to learn more about what other federal funds the Department of Education oversees.

Without the Department of Education, there would be no way to route funding to schools and educational institutions, which would stall bureaucratic processes. As of today, no person or agency is slated to replace the work the department was doing for students. 

The social impact of broadband access on students

Long after the pandemic forced kids to attend class via Zoom or Microsoft Teams, some schools have integrated a hybrid and/or online learning curriculum for students. Providing broadband access for these students is just part of their need for high-speed internet connectivity. 

Nahum Prasarn teaches technology at the Renaissance at Rand Middle School and highlights the importance of broadband accessibility for his students.  

“When I started teaching technology, it was getting the kids used to keyboarding and understanding how word processing works. Then it became making sure they understood that we have Google Suite, Google Classroom and emailing,” he said. 

Prasarn has taught at the school for 20 years and is the only technology teacher. He describes how today’s children can continue learning outside school by accessing online platforms at home. 

“They’ll reach out to me through Google Classroom and I will try to answer their questions as soon as they send it to me.” 

“Everyone’s time for learning is different. It could be the only time they can sit down and do their work,” Prasarn said. 

To succeed academically and beyond, kids in today’s classrooms need to develop digital skills, from research to social interaction. Slow internet can hinder growth, so having broadband access is a prerequisite to developing these skills, which roughly fall into two categories: basic internet literacy and social media comprehension. The more developed these skills are, the greater the likelihood of a student excelling in school and pursuing a higher education and even STEM-related careers.

Johannes Bauer, the FCC’s former chief economist, and his colleagues at Michigan State University surveyed students in rural communities in Michigan to explore student digital skills. One study, Broadband and Student Performance Gaps (PDF), highlighted the critical nature of developing digital skills. Bauer’s colleague Keith Hampton, a professor at Michigan State shared that broadband access in schools is not enough; there also needs to be an adequate broadband connection in the home. A lack of digital skills can hamper student outcomes. 

Hampton emphasizes that most kids don’t develop these skills at school because they find digital activities rudimentary. 

“You know, fooling around online at home, leisure play, games and social media. That’s where digital skills primarily come from,”  Hampton said. 

Online learning at home can also support a child’s exploration of STEM-related topics. 

When asked about the interest in STEM among these children, Hampton says, “The more interested you become in STEM, the more opportunities you have to mess with STEM-related topics.” 

Kelly Weatherby, a school psychologist at a K-8 school in Syracuse with a decade of experience in education program management, recommends that children stay away from social media until at least the eighth grade, with many studies pointing to the detrimental impact long-term social media use can have on children. However, when it comes to online learning platforms at home, she believes that improving broadband access can promote student online learning, mainly to cater to children’s individual needs that aren’t being met in the classroom. 

“If parents, for example, aren’t sure how to teach common core math, you can set your kid on an online learning platform that is adjusting to the programming of your child,” Weatherby said. “It will be responsive to a child’s performance, so it will be adaptive, making them start at any given level… depending on how the child performs.”

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A 2021 study from Bauer, Hampton and their other colleagues at Michigan State, found that rural students with broadband access were more likely to complete homework and show greater interest in school, resulting in better academic performance. Conversely, students who have no access to the internet, have slow internet or only have access to a mobile phone can experience homework incompletion and overall disinterest in school, ultimately affecting GPA and SAT performance, a phenomenon known as the homework gap.

The Montclair school district provides free Wi-Fi to students and families that need it. 

“When you have students that have spotty internet at home or a student with internet at one home and not the other, there’s definitely a difference in productivity,” Prasarn said.

The new administration and the future of student broadband access

With the new administration, there has been a lot of noise surrounding the future of broadband access for the country. With the Affordable Connectivity Program gone, there is a looming concern about booting another FCC program that assists schools in connecting to high-speed internet.

A Supreme Court hearing took place in late March, centered around a challenge to the lawfulness of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, an $8 billion per year broadband subsidy program that funds initiatives like the E-Rate program. The Supreme Court is hesitant to eliminate the program. However, further deliberation is expected, and a final decision will be reached by late June. This program provides eligible schools and libraries with affordable telecommunication services and free Wi-Fi hotspots. The future of the E-Rate program remains uncertain. 

In December 2024, Bauer ended his tenure as the FCC’s chief economist. He stressed the importance of establishing a bipartisan, pragmatic and workable approach independent of political orientation, which he described as one of the FCC’s key strengths as an agency. 

When addressing the broadband gap, the FCC “doesn’t require a Republican or Democratic solution; they just require a solution that serves the public interest,” Bauer said. 

Comparatively, the Biden administration focused on policy intervention to close the gap. However, the new Trump administration could lean toward market forces to close the broadband gap, though beyond pushing for more BEAD funding to go to satellite internet networks like SpaceX’s Starlink, we’ve yet to see much from the White House or the new FCC agenda to suggest how it will handle this issue.  

Bauer says we can learn a lot from what led to the demise of the Affordable Connectivity Program. His main criticism was that too many agencies were involved, making the bureaucratic process more complicated. 

“There were too many turf wars between those agencies. And we can only speculate that the joint effect of all these fragmented programs is less effective than if we were to see some more orchestrated effort,” Bauer said. 

But even without a sizable federal agency’s oversight and no alternative federal department assigned to assume responsibility in the Department of Education’s place, there is a light at the end of the tunnel: State legislatures are stepping up to try to secure federal funding themselves in efforts to close the broadband gap. 

For example, in New York, where I’m based, ConnectAll’s New York State Digital Equity Plan received over $2.2 million in funding in 2023 from the Digital Equity Act, a subset of the $90 billion in connectivity funding portioned from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to expand its digital equity strategy throughout the state. 

A spokesperson from ConnectAll tells CNET that federal and state funding supports ConnectAll’s initiatives, including the New York State Digital Equity Plan. 

“Due to federal restrictions, public schools are not eligible for Digital Equity funding. However, nonprofits — including nonprofit schools — can apply for funding to support broadband access and digital inclusion efforts,” the spokesperson said. 

Until another department replaces the Department of Education, state legislatures can come together to provision and determine funding opportunities for broadband for students. 

“Some states may be able to use state-level funds to close those gaps. The awareness is certainly there,” Bauer said. 

This was especially the case during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many schools to adopt a remote learning setting. State legislatures and other stakeholders mobilized funding to expand broadband access programs for students. 

New York State Senator and chair of the Internet and Technology Committee Kristen Gonzalez tells CNET she has plans to expand broadband and digital equity initiatives, including ConnectAll, throughout the state. 

“It’s more than just providing the basics. We want to ensure that schools have the resources they need to create lasting sustainable tech programs — because access to technology isn’t a luxury, it’s a right,” Gonzalez said. 

A 2020 survey published by the New York State Education Department revealed that 11% to 13% of New York City students in each borough lack sufficient internet access at home. The New York City Council supports this by claiming that inadequate broadband access is seen across the boroughs, with over 74% of all students in New York City attending schools in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx facing issues around broadband access.

Regarding expanding broadband initiatives, Gonzalez is working to implement the Affordable Broadband Act (ABA) to bring high-speed internet to underserved areas, including low-income households.

She is also cosponsoring the S3443 Bill, which would require broadband providers to offer high-speed service to low-income consumers for a maximum of $5 a month.

Looking ahead

Without home internet access, more students feeling isolated and separated from their peers could become the new norm. 

“A lot of our after-school clubs involve the internet and going on our Chromebooks to research stuff. So, without that, you won’t really be a part of it,” Mary, a 13-year-old seventh grader, said. 

Stella, a 13-year-old eighth grader, is the president of the student council. She discussed the importance of having Wi-Fi at home. 

“We have a group chat, and a lot of information goes out there. Whether we’re gonna have a meeting and who we need to do what. If people don’t have Wi-Fi, it’s a lot harder for them to be involved,” she said.  

Students could enter a new era with the Department of Education in the rearview mirror. With a signed executive order in motion, it’s only a matter of time until the department is officially no more. As the Trump administration figures out a different solution to apportioning federal funding to help get students online, any time without the federal funding programs overseen by the Department of Education could lead to more students facing poor or no internet access. 

Students will suffer the consequences until the Trump administration offers effective and simple solutions for closing the broadband gap. It could be up to state legislatures and local communities to shoulder the burden of advocating for broadband access for every student in America.