When New York City closed schools to combat the coronavirus outbreak and ordered remote learning for its more than 1 million students, English teacher Stephanie Paz wasn’t worried about how she would virtually teach her ninth-graders to take notes in the margins of their books or how they would discuss each other’s essays without being in the same room. Her biggest concern was whether they would have the basic technology needed to access their virtual lessons.

“I am concerned that, in 2020, all of our students don’t have access to technology or Internet at home,” Paz says. “I worry that, as a district, we haven’t prioritized that. And as a nation, we haven’t prioritized that.”

She is right to be concerned. As the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads, the nation’s K-12 schools and colleges have been forced to weigh health recommendations against the needs of students, many of whom are caught in the digital divide separating those who have Internet access and those who do not. About 15% of U.S. households with school-age children lack high-speed Internet access, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2015 Census Bureau data. Rural communities lag behind urban areas, as do tribal lands, where about a third of people don’t have high-speed Internet, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Dozens of broadband companies have signed on to the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected pledge for 60 days, agreeing to waive late fees, to refrain from terminating service for homes and small businesses in arrears on bills and to open wi-fi hot spots. Some are also offering free Internet to households with K-12 and college students and to low-income families who are new customers.

But advocates have called on them and on the government to do more. “It still leaves millions of American children disconnected,” Gigi Sohn, a distinguished fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy, says of the offer. “And by the way, what happens when the 60 days are over?”

More at Time.