Educators: It’s Time to Close the “Homework Gap”

While seven in ten teachers in the U.S. assign online homework to students, roughly 15 percent of the 35 million households in America with children don’t have internet access at home. This aspect of the digital divide in this country has created the “homework gap,” with studies showing that students without home internet access have a consistent pattern of lower scores in reading, math and science.

“I think this notion of connectivity in the digital divide, this is an educational justice issue,” says Paul Gothold, superintendent of schools for San Diego County, who estimates that some 30 percent of his students fall on the wrong side of the digital divide. “Something that many of us take for granted is not available to every kid, and we have to do whatever it takes to change that. We have to make sure that every kid has access.”

But he’s quick to point out that schools across the country, in both urban and rural areas, are often hindered in what they can do given lack of funding and budget constraints. Reaching “educational justice and equity for all of our kids” is going to take a combined and collaborative effort.

“Schools can't do this by ourselves,” he says. “We need to have partnerships with private and public entities to give our kids exactly what they need and deserve. The private and public partnerships are absolutely paramount and critical.”

To that end, T-Mobile announced that with the combined assets of a completed merger with Sprint that will create the New T-Mobile, the future company will create Project 10Million, a program designed to eradicate the homework gap by making a pledge worth $10 billion over the next five years that will deliver free internet access to 10 million households around the U.S. and Puerto Rico, as well as an additional $700 million commitment in hardware, which will include mobile hotspots. Additionally, it will offer the option to these same families to purchase select Wi-Fi enabled devices at the company’s cost.

“I’ve worked with thousands of students all over the country when it comes to digital learning and bridging the digital divide,” says Dr. Keisha Taylor, national education administrator for T-Mobile, who says that programs like Project 10Million will level the playing field for all students. “It’s not that they don’t have the ability to learn, it’s that they really don’t have the access to the information. And I think that’s what we’re really responsible for. Innovative technology should improve the state of humankind.”

Dr. Allen Pratt, the executive director of the National Rural Education Association, agrees, saying that by closing the digital divide that creates the homework gap, “Students in America will be able to fully realize that the world is their oyster.”

For more information on Project 10Million, please visit: https://www.t-mobile.com/uncarrier

Important Additional Information
In connection with the proposed transaction, T-Mobile US, Inc. (“T-Mobile”) has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-226435),which was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on October 29, 2018, and which contains a joint consent solicitation statement of T-Mobile and Sprint Corporation (“Sprint”), that also constitutes a prospectus of T-Mobile (the “joint consent solicitation statement/prospectus”), and each party will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE JOINT CONSENT SOLICITATION STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The documents filed by T-Mobile may be obtained free of charge at T-Mobile’s website, at www.t-mobile.com, or at the SEC’s website, at www.sec.gov, or from T-Mobile by requesting them by mail at T-Mobile US, Inc., Investor Relations, 1 Park Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10016, or by telephone at 212-358-3210. The documents filed by Sprint may be obtained free of charge at Sprint’s website, at www.sprint.com, or at the SEC’s website, at www.sec.gov, or from Sprint by requesting them by mail at Sprint Corporation, Shareholder Relations, 6200 Sprint Parkway, Mailstop KSOPHF0302-3B679, Overland Park, Kansas 66251, or by telephone at 913-794-1091. 

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