“Once schools resume we know they will have to
operate differently,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Distance learning will be a critical tool to enable
student learning to continue.”
About one-third of households in the state
lack internet access, and others are dependent
on weak signals. More than one in four public
school students lacks access to a computer or
tablet at home to help with distance learning,
according to a state survey released in April. The
gap was one of the major stumbling blocks to
continued education after classrooms closed,
and is sure to be an issue again with some
schools relying on remote learning when the
2020-21 school year begins in August.
State Superintendent of Education Cade
Brumley said the governor’s injection of dollars
for computers means about two-thirds of the
state’s 720,000 public school students will have
their own devices.
For higher education’s funding, Commissioner
of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said she
asked state economic development leaders to
identify top job needs around the state. She
said community colleges were asked to gear
up to make credentials linked to those jobs
available quickly.
“The goal is to scholarship individuals into a
short-term credential that has a job at the end of
it so we can allow people into employment at no
cost to the individual,” she said.
High-demand jobs include emergency
medical technicians, certified nurse
assistants, cybersecurity analysts, and mobile
crane operators.