As we enter summer and close the books on the 2019-20 school year—one sure to be more than a footnote in history texts in the future—there’s a new consensus that all students should have the technology they need to stay connected to learning. But why did it take a global pandemic and national school closures to reach this point?

For many Americans, going without broadband Internet would be like giving up water or electricity because it’s a means to their livelihood.

Yet as this crisis has demonstrated, millions of children live in homes without reliable access to an Internet-connected laptop or tablet that can be used for schoolwork. Specifically, over 9 million children don’t have broadband at home.