Cornell, Local School Team Up on Digital Divide

ITHACA, N.Y.

A community outreach group funded in part by Cornell University is spearheading a campaign to help bridge the digital divide in the local community. The Cornell Ithaca Partnership is working to put computers in 57 homes where children would otherwise not have home access. The homes would be those of students who attend the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School in Ithaca.

"In this educational environment, a computer is a necessity," says Tish Pearlman, program coordinator for the partnership.

"It's important that students have both quality and quantity access to computers," Tony Wilhelm, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Benton Foundation, told the Ithaca Journal. The foundation funds research and advocacy work on digital divide issues.

The Beverly J. Martin School is among the poorest in the Ithaca city school district, with 75 percent of its 178 students eligible for the federal free-lunch program, according to the New York state department of education.