Matt Dolan, Founder and CEO of the Global Teaching Project, testified before the Mississippi State Senate at the May 13, 2020 Joint Hearing of the Committee on Education and Committee on Universities and Colleges on Distance Learning. Mr. Dolan and other experts, including Dr. Carey Wright, Mississippi State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Andrea Mayfield, Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board, as well as representatives from major area internet service provider including C-Spire and AT&T, were called to testify about how to implement a successful statewide distance curriculum amidst the challenges wrought by COVID-19, with broadband access being the primary obstacle to effective implementation.

The Global Teaching Project was created to advance a fundamental Civil Right—the right to a quality education—and we have made progress toward that goal. The Global Teaching Project has helped close educational disparities afflicting underserved rural, low-income, and minority communities by providing promising high school students access to rigorous courses that otherwise would be unavailable. We do so because we believe in the promise of America. Yet that promise is not evident to all, and is denied to some as a consequence of poverty, injustice, and even violence.

We condemn the conduct involved in the death of George Floyd, which is unworthy of our great nation, and support calls for justice to be served. We join with those who honor the ideals articulated in our founding documents, and resolve to work to help make those ideals a reality for all Americans.