New Jersey Department of Education announces NJ schools have bridged the ‘digital divide’

The New Jersey Department of Education declared the digital divide closed among K-12 public school students who were provided with the required devices and broadband to join digital classrooms. The New Jersey state managed to decrease the number of public school students with no connectivity or devices to 7,717 by January 2021. As of 3 March 2021, New Jersey school district data reported that zero kids lacked a computer or internet connection. ‘New Jersey educators and school leaders did an amazing job of pivoting to remote instruction during the pandemic. However, our education system was not designed with a remote-instruction model in mind, and our schools found themselves competing with schools across the globe for devices to deliver online learning to students. These facts did not derail us. Instead, we found ways to connect students to their classrooms and now can proudly say that we have bridged the digital divide,’ highlighted Acting Commissioner of Education Dr Angelica Allen-McMillan.