Tedesco unveils a very expensive initiative to bring Internet to low-income high schoolers in Bergen County
JULY 15, 2015, 7:29 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015, 9:18 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Bergen County Executive James Tedesco on Wednesday unveiled an initiative aimed at providing basic broadband Internet service to low-income families with children who are starting high school this fall.
Tedesco announced he will provide a $50,000 grant from a discretionary fund in his budget to Jersey On, a non-profit that aims to connect more low-income families to the Internet.
A wireless router is the hub of your home or business network, delivering a single Internet connection to other devices on the network, through either wired Ethernet or a wireless connection. Some routers, targeted at novice users, are easy to set up, while others take a little more know-how. Routers also vary in the throughput they can manage, depending on the antenna configuration and the hardware inside.https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398080,00.asp
The organization is headed by Josh Gottheimer, a Microsoft executive who is a Democratic candidate for the 5th Congressional District seat now held by Republican Scott Garrett.
The $50,000 will provide a pocket-sized Wi-Fi hotspot device good for up to five wireless devices at no cost to 531 freshmen within the county whose families are eligible for the free or reduced-cost lunch program, starting this fall.
Those families also will receive free wi-fi for the four years that their student is in high school.
that’s one way to buy votes…
He is also going to provide funding for the Ridgewood garage according to our Mayor. So no Rdgewood property taxes will fund the garage just your county taxes.
$95 a family for a year of internet is pretty good. It is sort of undeniable that having internet access is critical to giving students a chance to succeed in school these days. Even report cards rely on parents checking the web. Seems like one of those very logical investments that is relatively low cost and gives some kids a chance to succeed. This is the type of private/public partnership we should all be trying to find and implement wherever possible.
“The $50,000 will provide a pocket-sized Wi-Fi hotspot device good for up to five wireless devices at no cost”
Maybe I am just reading this wrong but i have 7 devices at home and it didn’t cost anywhere near $50,000
Having involved parents is 10,000 times more important than internet access… You can get by without HOME internet access (yes it is difficult, inconvenient and requires more work, sacrifice and dedication) but without involved parents your chances of being successful are slim to none.
But its too politically difficult to be critical of low-income parents and takes too much unpleasant work to correct that problem. Its much more fun to throw money and Band-Aid the problem.