Players Coalition Connectivity Grants

The Players Coalition, a group of current and retired professional athletes dedicated to promoting systemic social and civic change, is focused on closing the digital divide as part of its effort to ensure children of color and those from low-income families have equal access to excellent educational opportunities. Through a partnership with Chiefs for Change, in October 2020, Players Coalition Charitable Foundation generously awarded $200,000, in the form of individual $50,000 grants, to support connectivity initiatives in four of our members’ systems.

Extending Internet Access in Baltimore

By collaborating with local organizations, Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises and her team have been able to get internet service through the end of 2020 for most families in the district who need it. But students will require access to the Web long after that. The Players Coalition grant will allow the district to extend internet access through the end of the school year for more than 400 families.

Enhancing School Wireless Networks in Ector County, Texas

In some areas of West Texas, internet access is spotty—and when students can’t get online, it’s hard for them to do their schoolwork. Funding from the Players Coalition will allow Ector County Independent School District, led by Superintendent Scott Muri, to install technology that will expand wireless networks at 25 campuses in and around Odessa so students can log on to schools’ Wi-Fi networks.

Purchasing Additional Hotspots in Indianapolis

Superintendent Aleesia Johnson and Indianapolis Public Schools have negotiated reduced rates for wireless hotspots and can buy them at roughly half their original cost. The team has been working for months to secure donations to purchase these hotspots through its Education Equity Fund. With support from the Players Coalition, the district will be able to get approximately 240 more students online for one year.

Enabling Continuous Wi-Fi in Palm Beach County, Florida

Under the leadership of Superintendent Donald Fennoy, The School District of Palm Beach County is partnering with the county government on a plan to connect up to 36,000 students, nearly two-thirds of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, to the internet using a new municipal Wi-Fi network. The Players Coalition funding will support the partnership, which leverages existing county-owned fiber optic cables and school radio towers to provide Wi-Fi in neighborhoods surrounding a number of campuses. The funding will give each student a Wi-Fi extender for continuous internet access at no ongoing cost.

These are admirable—and necessary—endeavors. Yet despite education leaders’ concerted work to provide technology and connectivity, massive needs remain. Furthermore, without a holistic solution, our nation will end up with a patchwork of initiatives that offer varying degrees of access at best, and that perpetuate historical inequities and threaten our collective prosperity at worst. If the federal government and internet service companies do not act to provide universal broadband, children with means will be able to continue learning, and those without will be left behind.