Non-Profit, Jersey On, Offering Free Wi-Fi Hotspots To Newark Students
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - About 1,700 school children in Newark, New Jersey, will get free mobile Wi-Fi hotspots and all residents will be able to receive high-speed internet for $10 a month.
The offer comes after Jersey On founder Josh Gottheimer said the non-profit linked up with the city.
"Jersey On is here because we know that there's an unfortunate truth. Students in Newark, more than half of them, won't be able to get online at home to do their homework," Gottheimer said.
Mayor Ras Baraka said a lack of internet access is hurting so many people in so many areas, WCBS 880's Levon Putney reported.
Baraka said not having internet access is just as bad as other social ills like poverty and crime.
"That starts a cyclical kind of motion for you to be stuck in a place that you could probaly move out of if you had access that other people had," he said.