The nation must act with urgency and purpose to ensure all students have access to high quality online learning opportunities. This begins with ensuring all students have the devices and connectivity they need to participate in online learning. As long as the digital divide remains, it stands as a failure of national will that translates into greater educational inequities.

We must also work to improve the quality of online learning itself. Students need – and deserve – courses and lessons that are rich with interactivity and engaging content. Teachers need – and deserve – more support structures to help them succeed in this new form of instruction. We must act with intention to ensure our most vulnerable students are positioned for success, given the challenges they face.