Yonkers Insider: Today @ 12: Senator Mayer to Announce Legislation to Provide Free Broadband to Every Student and School in NYS.

 

Media Advisory: Senator Mayer & Advocates to Announce E-LEARN Act to Provide Free, High-Quality Broadband to Every Student and School in New York State During the COVID-19 Emergency. E-Let's Expand Access to Remote Learning Now (E-LEARN) Act seeks to address the “digital divide” affecting low-income and minority students. WESTCHESTER, NY -- On Tuesday, November 24th, Senator Shelley B. Mayer (D-Westchester), Senator John Liu (D-Queens), Senator Pete Harckham (Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess), and education advocates will announce the E-LEARN Act to provide free, high-quality broadband to every student and school in New York State during the COVID-19 emergency. The E-LEARN Act, or E-Let's Expand Access to Remote Learning Now Act, seeks to address the “digital divide” that was already a significant problem for low-income and minority students and districts in cities, suburbs and rural areas throughout the state. The pandemic has exacerbated the “digital divide” and requires shared sacrifice by broadband providers in order for the state to meet its constitutional education requirement. The E-LEARN program is funded through an assessment on the annual intrastate revenue of Telecommunications Service Providers (TSPs). All students ages 5-21 in public, private, charter, independent, approved private special education schools and who are homeschooled are eligible for the E-LEARN program. Upon State Education Department (SED) approval, schools/districts arrange for broadband for students at their place of residence, including homeless shelters and foster care institutions, and school buildings without prior service. For students that already have broadband at their residences, the Public Service Commission (PSC) will direct TSPs to reduce the broadband cost for that household by the per student eligibility. In September, Senator Mayer co-authored an OpEd in the Albany Times Union about ensuring that families have the necessary broadband and child care resources to make schooling work during the Coronavirus Pandemic. **Face masks & social distancing required during the event.** WHAT:  Announcing new legislation to provide free, high-quality broadband to every student and school in NYS during the COVID-19 Emergency. WHEN: Today, Tuesday, November 24, 2020 12:00 PM WHERE:  Southern Westchester BOCES, Outside Building B 65 Grasslands Road, Valhalla, NY 10595 WHO:  Senator Shelley B. Mayer, Chair of the Education Committee; Senator John Liu, Chair of the NYC Education Committee; Senator Pete Harckham, Chair of the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Regent Frances G. Wills, 9th Judicial District; Dr. Harold Coles, District Superintendent of the Southern Westchester BOCES; Dr. Joseph Ricca, President of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents & Superintendent of the White Plains Public Schools; Dr. Edwin Quezada, Superintendent of the Yonkers Public Schools; Rev. Mark McLean, President of the New Rochelle NAACP; Oscar Cohen, Co-Chairman of the Education Committee, Spring Valley NAACP; Jennifer K. Pyle, Executive Director, Conference of Big 5 School Districts; Dr. Maria Rianna, Superintendent of the Glen Cove City School District, representing the New York State Association of Small City School Districts (NYSASCSD); Karen Belanger, Executive Director of the Westchester/Putnam School Boards Association; Dr. Mary Fox-Alter, Superintendent of the Pleasantville UFSD, representing the Lower Hudson Education Council; Margaret Käufer, President of the STEM Alliance; Jirandy Martinez, Executive Director of the Community Resource Center; Kyle Belokopitsky, Executive Director of the NYS PTA; Beth Sniffen, Region Director of the Westchester East-Putnam PTA; Rev. Steve Lopez, President of the Yonkers Board of Education; Carmen Goodstein, President of the YCPTA; Alexandria Connally, CEO & Founder of Culturally Responsive Environments and Discipline; Michael Kohlhagen, CEO of Center for Educational Innovation; Allison Lake, Executive Director of the Westchester Children’s Association; Kerry Whelan-Megley, Executive Director of the Family Ties of Westchester; and Vanessa Agudelo, Hudson Valley Representative for the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC).

About Senator Shelley B. Mayer  Senator Shelley B. Mayer was elected to the New York State Senate to represent the 37th District in an April 2018 Special Election, and she was subsequently re-elected in November 2018. The 37th State Senate District includes the Cities of Yonkers, White Plains, Rye and New Rochelle; the Towns of Bedford, Eastchester, Harrison, North Castle, Mamaroneck, and Rye; the Villages of Bronxville, Larchmont, Harrison, Mamaroneck, Port Chester, Rye Brook, and Tuckahoe; and the unincorporated hamlets of Katonah, Bedford Hills, and Armonk. Click here to read more about Senator Mayer.