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* As Jennifer Smith Richards of the Chicago Tribune and Jodi S. Cohen and Haru Coryne of ProPublica Illinois report, it’s not possible for large numbers of at-home kids to be schooled online…
A Chicago Tribune-ProPublica Illinois analysis found digital inequities across the state, the effects of which will be exacerbated as families are isolated inside their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. In more than 500 of the state’s roughly 3,100 census tracts, there were fewer than 600 quality connections per 1,000 residents, accounting for a significant portion of Illinois geography. At least 54 census tracts had even lower rates of connectivity as of the end of 2017, the analysis showed.
The Federal Communications Commission surveys the nation’s fixed internet service availability by collecting data through internet service providers twice a year. It defines fixed high-speed internet connections as those with adequate bandwidth to upload or download. So if a provider offers service at least that fast for at least one household on a census-defined block, the entire area is considered served. The most recent data about individual connections is from the end of 2017 and was released last year; providers may have improved speeds and access since then.
The Tribune-ProPublica Illinois analysis of FCC data, combined with estimates of households per census tract, showed that in a high-poverty tract of St. Clair County, about 250 miles southwest of Chicago, there were fewer than 200 quality internet connections per 1,000 households. It was among the most underserved downstate areas, according to the analysis.
So, too, was Edgar County, in the central part of the state along the Indiana border. In three of the five census tracts there, there were fewer than 600 broadband connections per 1,000 households. In contrast, the census tracts served by the Maercker School District 60 in DuPage County all show close to one decent connection for every household.
The governor’s massive broadband build-out program is going to take some time.
* This map shows the number of connections per 1,000 households. Dark red areas have less than 200 connections per 1,000 households. Lighter red is 200-400 and pink is 400-600 connections per 1,000 households. White areas have at least 600 connections per 1,000 households…
* It could be worse, though…
Elgin District 46, one of the largest in the state, recently began giving Chromebooks to students from fifth through 12th grade, aided by a surge of new state funding intended to narrow the gap in resources between schools. By August of last school year, all of the district’s 14,000 high school students had a device they could take home. The district has about 26,000 Chromebooks, and more are being shipped this week; it has cost about $9 million so far.
With the need now more immediate, district officials are distributing Chromebooks from the schools to remaining students who don’t have one at home. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade are getting them this week.
“If this virus had struck three years ago, we would not be able to provide any sort of distance learning,” U-46 Superintendent Tony Sanders said. “We should be able to provide a device for every family to make sure their students can learn.”
Yes, he had to be dragged into it, but that education funding reform law was likely Bruce Rauner’s greatest accomplishment in office.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:15 pm
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At my parents’ house in Ford County, only one or two bars of LTE for cell service and frequently it drops out. They recently hooked up with test broadband off of a grain elevator which works well on the first floor of the house, in the upstairs not so much. I personally think rural broadband will be the RFD or TVA of the next generation, similar to electricity and landline telephone service was decades ago.
Comment by RDB Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:35 pm
It’s great when the students have ChromeBooks, my district supplies them to students in grades 6 - 12. However, many students do not have WiFi at home and places that may provide it for free are now closed.
Comment by Wensicia Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:38 pm
Agree with RBD.
Rural broadband is going to be a real positive change.
Comment by Back to the Future Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 1:52 pm
This is only a map of wired connections, not mobile broadband.
It would be foolish to devise an e-learning system that depended on wires.
AT&T and Verizon’s mobile broadband network cover 94 percent of the US population and 100 percent of Illinois, according to BroadbandNow.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:01 pm
Yellow Dog Democrat
Wireless is more expensive and data limits are throttled after 10 GB. Some rural families suffer from severe poverty also.
Comment by Intheknow Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:09 pm
While my grandkids had smartphones at home, they didn’t work for all the school stuff. We relaxed our isolation enough to get them the tablets they normally use at our house, so now they can do all their school work.
Admittedly it doesn’t help people in conpletely rural environments, just urban locations, but Xfinity / Comcast did kick open all their WiFi hotspots … and a lot of people who normally can’t get WiFi to cable may be able to reach one of them since some of those hotspots are likely in your neighbor’s homes.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:19 pm
When you get away from the interstate highways in downstate areas you go off the grid. Very inconsistent coverage around here from Verizon and AT&T. I’ve seen the maps. I don’t know how they came up with them.
Comment by Rural Survivor Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:19 pm
I live in one of the entirely red counties ( except for the county seat that is in pink). What kills me is that there is a fiber optic line at the end of my lane but no way to connect to it- at least to my knowledge. It was put in years ago for the Clinton Power Station. So, hotspot or dish are the only option right now, and both are expensive and throttled at times- ironically Verizon hotspot is throttled when the power station gets really busy around 9 am.
Comment by Anon221 Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:25 pm
For many of the kids at the elementary school where I volunteer, the only home internet connection is the parent’s cell phone.
For rural areas, what are the costs in using the rural electric cooperative infrastructure? Is that the cheapest alternative?
Another question - should broadband internet be treated like public utilities, rather than cable company profit generators?
Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 2:41 pm
**While my grandkids had smartphones at home, they didn’t work for all the school stuff. We relaxed our isolation enough to get them the tablets they normally use at our house, so now they can do all their school work.**
I know you know this already, but its important to point out that there are a lot of families that cannot afford to to get a couple of ipads
Comment by SaulGoodman Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 3:04 pm
Anyone Remember -
As far as broadband piggybacking on the co-op’s lines, fiber makes sense when you have 100 or 500 customers per mile like you do in cities; when there is one or 2, it’s just another thing to go wrong and maintain. Over the air broadband just makes so much more sense. Although many customers are still saddled with poor choices. I could afford a better connection, but I can’t buy it now at any price. I describe my HughesNet satellite internet connection as “the internet of last resort.”
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 3:49 pm
== I know you know this already, but its important to point out that there are a lot of families that cannot afford to to get a couple of ipads ==
While some people can’t afford anything, I will note there are cheaper alternatives than IPads … the Apple stuff is way overpriced. You can buy 2 or 3 or more Android / Chrome tablets for the price of 1 IPad.
A lot of schools use Chrome Books. And I applaud the schools that sent the kids home with them. The biggest problem there is the schools usually don’t issue them until 5th or 6th grade.
In our case we didn’t have to go get them; we already had Android based tablets we had previously bought them to use at our house because they used to stop off every afternoon for a couple of hours when walking home from school.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 4:03 pm
Six Degrees of Separation
Rural areas have an infrastructure that could be used … the electrical / telephone wire poles. In my experience (yours may be different), over the air broadband is susceptible to outages, particularly during “weather events” … .
Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 4:07 pm
I’ll also note that most cable companies have a cheap rate for internet only service if someone in the household is receiving SNAP or the school lunch program. It is typically $10 - $20 a month. Right now a lot of the companies are providing free service to school kids, etc. for 60 days.
Seniors can often get a similar deal.
Again, it doesn’t help the rural areas outside a town or village, but it is an alternative in a lot of places.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 4:14 pm
The concept that elearning will replace or be as good as regular instruction is faulty for many reasons. If you have ever been a teacher you would understand that it is way beyond connectivity.
Attention span
Uneven parenting
Specific learning needs of kids
Subject area- huge factor.
Duration
The list is endless. Elearning and chrome books are a valuable supplement, and in a crisis valuable to prevent learning regression or at least slow it.
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 4:29 pm
Maybe this will help out some…
Background:
The CARES Act contains $9.5 billion in assistance for agriculture producers who have been impacted by COVID-19 along with a $14 billion replenishment to the Commodity Credit Corporation. In addition, the legislation includes $100 million in ReConnect grants to expand access to broadband in rural America for educational purposes, business, and access to critical telehealth services.
Comment by Anon221 Friday, Mar 27, 20 @ 4:31 pm