Texas Border Business
By Marco Antonio Lopez
This week, Hidalgo county mandated local school districts to start the school year with distance learning classes only.
As COVID cases skyrocket, anxieties around remote learning are growing in the Rio Grande Valley’s low-income colonias, where access to broadband Internet is scarce.
Colonia parents worry that their children will fall behind in their studies because they don’t have adequate Internet. The Rio Grande Valley has one of the lowest rates of broadband Internet in the U.S. Communications companies and government officials have left low-income areas like colon ias out of the expansion of broadband infrastructure.
We know that RGV leaders recognize that the Valley has a problem with access to Internet. We also know that if colonia residents are left out of the decision-making process, they will be left out of the solutions that politicians and county officials propose.
That is why we launched a campaign to bring accessible, high-speed Internet to RGV colonias. We are collecting signatures from colonia residents throughout the Valley to show elected officials that we are serious about winning broadband connections for our rural communities.
Help colonia residents win accessible, high-speed Internet. Donate to LUPE’s Internet campaign.
Texas leadership botched our state’s COVID response and the RGV is now a national COVID hotspot because of it. Parents know that when the new school year starts a month from now, schools will still be unsafe places for their children.
We know that the solution to providing safe spaces where youth can learn is to expand broadband connectivity outward into rural communities. LUPE members are dedicated to making sure it is done in a way that ensures all have equitable and equal access.
As school districts consider extending distance learning into the spring, colonia residents urgently need access to high-speed, affordable internet in order to help their kids do well in school.
Help us fuel our urgent work to bring Internet to Rio Grande Valley colonias. Donate today.
In solidarity,
Marco Antonio Lopez, is a Community Organizer at LUPE, La Unión del Pueblo Entero
