Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan is calling for publicly accessible Wi-Fi in the city, her office said Tuesday.
The coronavirus health emergency is causing people to rely on the internet to do schoolwork and business, but services are not universally available. The lack of access is especially acute for lower-income families and students in those families.
Distance learning is more difficult when internet services are not available, according to Kaplan's office.
"In the face of COVID-19 response, our efforts should include expanding availability of Internet service to the public, including those who cannot afford service," Kaplan said in a statement.
Recently, donors have given millions of dollars to Oakland schools to help students get the electronics they need to learn during the coronavirus pandemic. But San Francisco has been more proactive in establishing public Wi-Fi hotspots in the pandemic. The city created 25 new "SuperSpots" in April for neighborhoods where students live in public housing, SRO units and other locations least well served by Wi-Fi.
— Bay City News, with reporting by KQED's Julia Scott (@juliascribe)