Roughly 100,000 Chicago Public Schools students will get free access to high-speed internet service over the next four years, thanks to a $50 million program bankrolled, in part, by Illinois’ richest man.
Last month, Mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded that Chicago internet providers stop “putting profits over people” and bridge the digital divide that has made remote learning difficult at CPS.
Now, she’s turning to hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin and some of Chicago’s most powerful philanthropies to solve the vexing problem that still exists in the city’s most impoverished South and West Side neighborhoods.
“Reliable high-speed internet is one of the most powerful equalizers when it comes to accessing information,” the mayor was quoted as saying in a press release.
“It allows families to access digital remote learning and say connected to family near and far, especially during COVID-19. It allows families to build career skills, apply for jobs, register to vote and stay up to date on current events. This program is a critical component of our STEP agenda and the effort to end poverty and a part of our mission to drive academic outcomes at CPS.”
After apparently getting nowhere with internet providers, Lightfoot turned to Griffin — again.
He agreed to contribute $7.5 million to bankroll the first half of a four-year program known as “Chicago Connected.”
Other major donors include: Crown Family Philanthropies ($5 million); Chicago Community COVID Response Fund administered by the Chicago Community Trust and United Way of Metro Chicago ($2.5 million); Illinois Tool Works ($2 million) and the Pritzker Traubert Foundation ($1.5 million); the JPB Foundation ($500,000) and the Joyce Foundation ($250,000).
Another $750,000 commitment was made by former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and the Chicago Community Trust to the Children’s First Fund, the philanthropic arm of CPS. That money will used to support South Side community organizations.
City Hall will round out the first two years of funding by contributing $5 million in federal stimulus funds. Years 3 and 4 will be paid for by CPS.
Last year, Griffin made a $2 million donation to mayoral challenger Bill Daley that may have cost Daley a spot in the April 2 run-off by linking Daley to Griffin, who had been a top donor of former Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Movers and shakers fearful that Chicago could take a sharp turn to the political left and increase business taxes joined Griffin in filling Daley’s campaign coffers.
But the hedge fund billionaire has more recently turned into Lori Lightfoot’s go-to guy.
His donations helped CPS distribute food during the pandemic and continue to bankroll strategic deployment centers for the Chicago Police Department. Just a few weeks ago, another $4 million Griffin donation helped repair damage to Chicago’s lakefront.
On Thursday, Griffin called internet connectivity a “lifeline to education and opportunity” that extends learning “beyond the classroom.
“With ongoing access, every student and their family — regardless of economic circumstance — will be better positioned to pursue a brighter future,” Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, was quoted as saying.
“I hope ‘Chicago Connected’ will inspire other communities across the country to come together to eliminate the digital divide.”
CPS has made the switch to remote learning by distributing more than 100,000 laptop computers and tablets; the devices come either from its own stockpile or are donated by individuals and corporations.
But it’s been a difficult transition. The mayor’s office cited census data that shows roughly 100,000 of Chicago’s most impoverished students still lack access to high-speed internet.
Their households will get just that for four years. Eligibility will be determined by “priority indicators” that include students who are in one or more of these categories: eligible for free lunch; identified as having special needs; experiencing homelessness; or living in communities with highest hardship. Needy students enrolled in summer school will also get priority.
The goal is to reach as many of the 100,000 students as possible before the start of the new school year. Lightfoot has said she hopes to open school on time this fall with in-classroom learning. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has given the go-ahead for just that.
But if there’s another surge in coronavirus cases before then, remote learning — or a blend of in-classroom and remote learning — will need to continue. That’s make the $50 million program to bridge the digital divide all the more important.
