OTâFYIâBoneheads in IT Administ ration
OTâFYIâBoneheads in IT Administ ration
- Subject: OTâFYIâBoneheads in IT Administ ration
- From: email@hidden
- Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 08:10:21 EDT
(Of course, this is BillGatesCountry)
Find the story at:
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/134086
Foster High considers turning down free Macs
2003-06-10
by<A HREF="
mailto:email@hidden";> Nora Doyle</A>
Journal Reporter
TUKWILA -- Some Foster High School teachers are balking at the idea that the
school board could refuse to let them accept $43,000 worth of new computers
the school was recently awarded through a grant program.
Earlier this year, teacher Jeff Heiman applied for a grant from a nonprofit
organization offering 30 new Macintosh computers and six laser printers to a
school in an economically challenged community. The Tukwila School District,
with a high number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, fits the
bill.
Heiman thought he had found an answer. When he found out in May that Foster
won the grant, the math teacher was elated. The extra computers would give the
students he'll teach next year daily access to a computer, which they need,
he said.
But according to the school technology plan created in 2000, Tukwila schools
will move toward using only personal computers, not the Macintosh, for
financial reasons, Superintendent Michael Silver said.
The district has a six-person technology department staffed with people
expert in PCs, Silver added. Having only PCs allows the district to better
maintain, repair and replace computers in a cost-effective way, he said.
But even without the 30 new Macintosh computers, Foster will have a stash of
Macs around the school. A caveat of the technology plan allows teachers to
keep their Macs at their desks instead of getting a PC if they wish. In
addition, the library and a graphics classroom can keep their Macs.
It's silly to turn down the offer of free Macs when the school district has
to provide technical support for the Macs already at the high school, said
Heiman, who said he didn't know about the Mac rule in the technology plan when he
applied for the grant.
``My job as a teacher is to do everything I can to improve the education of
kids. In my professional judgment, we need these computers,'' he said.
The superintendent said the district should stick to its plan.
``At this point ... going with one platform for a small school district
seems most prudent,'' Silver said.
The matter will be discussed at tonight's school board meeting, when Heiman
said he and other teachers will ask the board for a one-time exception to the
technology-plan rule prohibiting new Macs.
Heiman said without new computers, the students he will teach next year will
have little chance at using a computer as often as they need to because of
the school's impending reorganization. About two years ago, the school was the
winner of a $427,000 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant that calls for
breaking students into smaller groups to maximize the time they spend with
teachers. Foster's 700 students will belong to one of three ``academies'' that suits
their interests. (The Gates grant does not restrict what kind of computers a
school may use.)
Heiman will teach math and Spanish to about 140 students in the Experience
Academy, which will try to better prepare students for the life they will
encounter after high school.
The problem is that scheduling and other technicalities will not permit
students in Heiman's group to have daily access to the school's computer labs, the
teacher said. While his students often work effectively in groups at the
seven computers he has in his own classroom, that's not enough computers for the
days when each student needs one. The 30 computers provided by the grant will
make a big dent in the problem, he said.
Nelson Humiston, parent of two children who will enroll in the Experience
Academy next year, said he hopes the school board will allow Foster to accept
the computers.
``In a time of serious budget crunches in the schools, for them to turn down
a gift of $43,000 just seems asinine ... Policy is a nice idea, but reality
is that they're going to have Macs and they might as well take the free ones
when they can get them,'' he said.
Heiman said he applied for another computer grant, but has not yet been
notified of the results.
A school board decision on the new computers is not expected at tonight's
meeting.
Nora Doyle covers education. She can be reached at nora.doyle@kingcountyjour
nal.com or 253-872-6726.
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