Verizon Chooses Profit Over Collaboration

As an educator for almost 20 years there have been few tools that have helped improve communication between schools and stakeholders unlike that of the popular app REMIND. Remind is a simple app that allows educators, administrators, parents, and students to communicate through a safe network about school related issues. Recently, Remind users learned that Verizon will be charging a new fee that makes it impossible for the app to continue supporting free text messaging for anyone with Verizon Wireless as their phone carrier. As a result, the Verizon fee will increase costs for the app owners by 11X—pushing their annual costs into the millions of dollars. This isn’t financially feasible for Remind to support, and it’s forcing them to end text messaging for everyone who has a wireless plan with Verizon. Beginning January 28, 2019, the people in previously set-up classes who normally get Remind messages as texts will no longer receive these messages if they have Verizon Wireless as their phone carrier.

Remind & Educators across the country are spreading the word on social media in an effort to have Verizon reconsider the fee (quick fact - Verizon feels that Remind texts are SPAM and this is simply not true). Let Verizon know that you’re asking them to #ReverseTheFee on Remind—and share how you’ve used in Remind in your classroom and community, because your messages are #NotSpam. Tweet @verizon

It is my hope, and thousands of other Remind users, that Verizon will reconsider the fee. This app is valuable for all stakeholders in our community. Please consider taking time to let Verizon know that this tool is extremely valuable, not SPAM, and used to advance valuable educational dialogue between the home & schools.

Erik Paulson - Principal of Harmony Elementary School

(Portions of this article were paraphrased from correspondence with Remind in order to remain factual)