Inequality In America: A Look At The Digital Divide In Home Schooling | TODAY transcript

IT BECAME CLEAR SOME STUDENTS HAD COMPUTERS. MANY DID NOT. KENNEDY CAIN IS A FIGHTER. AND THAT’S LUCKY BECAUSE AT 16, SHE’S NOT ONLY A STRAIGHT-A. STUDENT AT ONE OF THE THE BEST SCHOOLS IN DETROIT, SHE’S RUNNING A SCHOOL ON A SINGLE COMPUTER FOR SIX SIBLINGS. NEARLY A MONTH WITHOUT ANY ASSIGNMENTS, HER SCHOOL LAUNCHED AN ONLINE PLATFORM. BUT KENNEDY SAYS THAT HASN’T MADE IT EASIER. >> NOT ONLY IS THIS NEW TO US, BUT IT’S NEW TO THE TEACHERS AS WELL.

AND SOMETIMES THE TEACHERS HAVE DIFFICULTIES WHEN THEY ARE TRYING TO PROGRAM IT. AND THEN THEY ASSIGN IT AS IF THEY KNOW THAT EVERYONE HAS AVAILABILITY OR THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR HOME WHEN THAT’S NOT THE CASE. SO IT’S KIND OF FRUSTRATING. >> Reporter: WHEN SCHOOLS CLOSED, ONLY 10% OF DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS HAD ACCESS TO A COMPUTER AND THE INTERNET. WHICH IS DEEPLY TROUBLING TO DR. NIKOLAI VITI.

HE BECAME SUPERINTENDENT INHERITING A SYSTEM LONG ON PROMISE AND SHORT ON RESOURCES. SO DR. VITI, WHAT WAS THE STATE OF THE DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM BEFORE CORONAVIRUS? >> ENROLLMENT WAS UP FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER A DECADE. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DEFINED BY STATE AND NATIONAL TEST SCORES SHOWED IMPROVEMENT. >> Reporter: EQUALLY IMPORTANT, THE TEACHER VACANCY RATE WHICH HAD DOGGED THE CITY HAD IMPROVED BY 75%. >> GOD PUT ME ON THIS EARTH TO KEECH.

I LOVE IT. >> Reporter: CASEY EDGAR TEACHES 11th GRADE MATH AT KING HIGH. SHE SAYS MOST OF HER NEARLY 150 STUDENTS ARE LESS AND LESS COMMITTED TO SCHOOL. >> HOW COME YOUR CAMERA’S NOT ON? THE FIRST WEEK I WAS IN TOUCH WITH 50% TO 60%. NOW IT’S RUNNING AT ABOUT 20%. >> Reporter: WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR STUDENTS DO YOU THINK ARE ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK? LIKE, RIGHT ABOUT 10%. >> Reporter: THAT’S NOT VERY MANY. >> NO. NOT VERY MANY AT ALL. >> Reporter: LIKE MANY PLACES AROUND THE COUNTRY, LITTLE LEARNING HAS TAKEN PLACE FOR DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS SINCE MARCH. >> INSTEAD OF ADDING OR SUBTRACTING, WE’RE GOING TO BE MULTIPLYING. >> Reporter: THERE’S NO DENYING THERE IS A DIGITAL DIVIDE IN AMERICA.

JUST SEVEN MILES FROM DOWNTOWN DETROIT, THE GROSSE POINTE SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL HAD A COMPUTER IN EVERY KIDS’ HANDS WHO NEEDED ONE IMMEDIATELY AFFECT SHUTDOWN. >> I WAS ISSUED A LAPTOP RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL ENDED. >> Reporter: XAVIER PRATER IS A DEDICATED STUDENT. >> WE JUST LOG IN AND GO TO OUR REMOTE LEARNING RESOURCES. >> Reporter: XAVIER WILL BE A SENIOR NEXT YEAR AND DREAMS OF GOING TO UCLA. HE IS WELL ON HIS WAY WITH LOTS OF SUPPORT.

LITTLE SURPRISE, PARTICIPATION IN ONLINE CLASSES IN GROSSE POINTE IS 95%. MUCH HIGHER THAN IT IS JUST A ZIP CODE AWAY IN DETROIT WHERE IT’S ONLY 50%. A REFLECTION SOME SAY OF DEEPLY ROOTED SYSTEMIC RACISM. THE NUMBERS TELL AT LEAST PART OF THE STORY. IN DETROIT, MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME IS ABOUT $30,000. THE POPULATION IS NEARLY 80% BLACK. IN GROSSE POINTE, MEDIAN INCOME IS JUST OVER $100,000 WITH A BLACK POPULATION OF 2%.

SO IS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN DETROIT A RACIAL DIVIDE AS WELL? >> ABSOLUTELY. THE HAVES ARE RECEIVING MORE THAN THE HAVE NOTS. WE ALREADY KNOW CHILDREN ARE COMING IN AT A DISADVANTAGE WITH FEWER RESOURCES THAN MIDDLE CLASS, UPPER MIDDLE CLASS STUDENTS. BUT OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM SHOULD BE THE EQUALIZER IN GIVING AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CHILDREN. BUT INSTEAD IT EXACERBATES THE DIVIDE THAT ALREADY EXISTS. >> Reporter: DETROIT IS GETTING A BIG BOOST WITH A $23 MILLION GIFT FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES TO GIVE EVERY STUDENT A LAPTOP.

BUT THAT WON’T HAPPEN UNTIL SUMMER LONG AFTER THE SCHOOL YEAR ENDS. >> WE CAN ANTICIPATE MOST STUDENTS LOSING SIX MONTHS OF WHERE THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN HAD WE BEEN IN SCHOOL. >> Reporter: SIX MONTHS BEHIND CAN BE A KNOCKOUT PUNCH FOR KIDS ALREADY STRUGGLING WITH AN ACHIEVEMENT GAP. NOT BECAUSE THEY AREN’T AS SMART, NOT BECAUSE THEY AREN’T WILLING TO WORK AS HARD. JUST BECAUSE OF WHERE THEY LIVE. >> GROSSE POINTE IS RIGHT NEXT TO US AND THEY HAVE -- THEY GOT RESOURCES THE SECOND THIS PANDEMIC STARTED.

THIS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ISN’T LACKING AS MUCH AS WE ARE. AND IT’S LIKE, WOW. WHY CAN’T WE BE LIKE THAT OR WHY CAN’T WE STEP IN AND GIVE TO OUR STUDENTS LIKE THEY ARE? BECAUSE OUR STUDENTS ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM THEIRS. >> Reporter: SO I ASKED KENNEDY WHERE HER INCREDIBLE COURAGE AND HER WISDOM CAME FROM. SHE SAYS HER WORKING MOTHER WHO SHE CALLS A SUPERHERO. AND ONE FINAL POINT, BROWN AND HARVARD DID A STUDY AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS HIT OF MATH AROUND THE COUNTRY LOOKING AT JUST UNDER A MILLION STUDENTS.

HERE’S WHAT THEY FOUND. IN THE POORER ZIP CODES, THE MATH LEARNING HAD BEEN REDUCED BY ABOUT 50%. AND IN THE WEALTHIEST ZIP CODES, NO LEARNING LOSS. >> EVEN IF THE KIDS GET THESE LAPTOPS, WHAT ABOUT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AS IT PERTAINS TO DIGITAL ACCESS AS WELL? >> Reporter: THAT’S PART OF IT. THESE LAPTOPS ARE GOING TO COME WITH INTERNET ACCESS BECAUSE THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A PROBLEM. >> I REMEMBER WE DID THAT STORY OF THAT FAMILY THAT ACTUALLY GOT IN THEIR CAR AND DROVE TO WHERE THERE WAS INTERNET ACCESS.

BUT YOU CAN’T BELIEVE THAT