[1st-mile-nm] New Mexico making gains toward bridging digital divide in education

[Richard Lowenberg]

New Mexico making gains toward bridging digital divide in education

By James Barron jbarron at sfnewmexican.com  Feb 17, 2021

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/coronavirus/new-mexico-making-gains-toward-bridging-digital-divide-in-education/article_6340b6b2-7135-11eb-b1f5-279567ec722f.html


Kimball Sekaquaptewa relayed a story that underscored the internet 
connectivity crisis many students in New Mexico have faced over the past 
year.

Sekaquaptewa, the chief technology officer at Santa Fe Indian School, 
spoke of a student who suffered heatstroke in the fall as he sat outside 
a Wi-Fi hot spot in his community because he lacked internet access at 
home.

During a virtual roundtable Tuesday with members of the New Mexico 
Homework Gap Team, hosted by U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, she said the need 
to expand broadband access to rural areas of the state, especially 
Native communities, has never been higher.

The team is a mix of state, federal and nonprofit leaders created to 
help solve students’ home connectivity issues.

“We all know that those things can’t continue,” Sekaquaptewa said. “But 
I think we have great momentum for long-term solutions here. If there is 
a silver lining, it’s that the state and the tribes are creating 
long-term solutions.”

Luján said it is important to keep the connectivity issue on the front 
burner because 1 in 4 students lacks a reliable or any internet 
connection. He added that his role on the U.S. Senate Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation will help him be a voice in 
confronting the challenges of providing internet access in rural areas.

“I still don’t understand how someone can board a plane in Los Angeles, 
stay connected at 30,000 feet, fly over rural America and land in New 
York, and they stay connected to the internet at a decent speed,” Luján 
said. “Why can’t we stay connected to all those rural communities you’re 
flying over?’”

Team members said the state is making gains in improving internet access 
in some areas.

John Chadwick, education technology coordinator for the state Public 
Education Department, said local internet service providers have helped 
provide connectivity in areas of Northern New Mexico — specifically in 
Peñasco and communities north of Taos, thanks to Kit Carson Electric 
Cooperative.

However, he pointed out terrain can affect the quality of internet 
access, and companies might have to navigate several jurisdictions to 
provide some rural areas with fiber-optic cable, which can be a daunting 
process.

“It’s going across what’s considered the checkerboard, which is a 
mixture of private land, federal land and tribal land,” Chadwick said. 
“I’m not sure what the history is behind that, but it is an issue.”

Brent Nelson, the information technology director for the Navajo Nation 
Department of Diné Education, said price and internet quality also are 
issues, especially for Native families. He said there is a need to make 
high-speed internet available to Navajo students.

While progress is being made, he emphasized many students are still 
being shut out of online classrooms because they either lack internet 
access or speed to stay online.

“Navajo Nation has struggled with these challenges for decades,” Nelson 
said. “Despite the fact that we are experiencing a historic public 
health crisis that has threatened the basic existence of our culture and 
our families, we are facing increased limitations to remain connected 
during mandatory quarantine periods.”

Chadwick said the Federal Communications Commission’s required minimum 
download-to-upload speed ratio of 25-to-3 megabits of data per second is 
inadequate, especially for larger families. He added the need to upgrade 
internet access is almost as important as providing it to needed areas.

“If you have one student in the household, it might work some of the 
time,” Chadwick said. “If you have multistudent households, it is not 
going to work. … We need better standards.”



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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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