City launches program to provide free internet access to 35,000 families.

Lauren Wiley, The Notebook

The city and the Philadelphia School District are tackling the digital divide with the launch of PHLConnectED, a $17 million program to offer free Comcast Internet Essentials service to 35,000 families of K-12 students for two years.

The program will be paid for by public funds and private donors. Officials said Comcast is contributing $7 million to the effort. The city will use $2 million in local CARES Act funding, $1 million from the William Penn Foundation, and additional grants from the Neubauer Family Foundation, the Philadelphia School Partnership, and others. The School District and a number of charter schools also are investing in the project. So far, $11 million has been raised. The city hopes to secure the funding to extend the program beyond two years. Mark Wheeler, Philadelphia’s chief information officer, said this effort addresses “an immediate need,” adding that the city is engaged in a longer-term effort to bridge the digital divide with the goal “to address the needs of all households beyond K-12 and make it permanent.”

More here.