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Getting Tech Tools In The Schools
by Aliya Sternstein
Last November, parents in Round Rock, Texas, approved two bond propositions that will earmark about $23 million in part to build high-tech classrooms in the local school district. The city -- which is located just outside Austin and home to Dell -- will outfit the so-called "intelligent classrooms" with ceiling-mounted data projectors, digital cameras, document cameras and a laptop computer for each student. The fast-growing area needs new schools with modern amenities.
"The community understands the idea of globalization," said Ed Zaiontz, executive director of information services at the district. The parents are aware that their children "are not just competing in Round Rock high schools or Texas high schools; they are competing nationally and internationally now."
But Round Rock school district's situation is not the norm, according to school technology experts. Many school districts rely on state funding and increasingly scarce federal funding for school technologies.
For the third consecutive year, the Bush administration is proposing to cut the only federal funding devoted to educational technology. The jeopardized program, Enhancing Education Through Technology, awards state grants for high-tech equipment, curriculum development and teacher training to ensure that students become technologically literate.
The Burden Shifts To States, Localities
Congress has been able to restore funding in the past, but appropriations have drastically dropped, from $691.8 million in fiscal 2004 to $272.3 million in fiscal 2006. Funding has "been really bleak from the local, state and federal level," said Keith Krueger, CEO at the Consortium for School Networking.
Now, with global competitiveness at the forefront of the nation's consciousness and the federal government tightening its belt, states will have to fill the void in educational technology funding. "States are the ones to watch at the moment" because they have budget surpluses, Krueger said. "Just about every governor runs as the 'education governor."
He cited the rhetoric of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as an example. The chairwoman of the National Governors Association, Napolitano is promoting a yearlong education campaign aimed in part at helping states improve technology and engineering education. At the closing session of NGA's annual meeting last August, Napolitano said she looked forward to working with "my gubernatorial colleagues to ensure innovation is top of mind for state leaders, educators and the business community."
With decreasing support from federal coffers, state and local governments have had to get creative in updating school technologies.
California, for example, is using money from a settlement agreement in an antitrust case against Microsoft to fund technology for primary and secondary schools. Since last September and continuing until September 2012, school districts have been able to redeem vouchers from the Microsoft funds to reimburse purchases of electronic learning resources and hardware. Covered items include computers, projectors, computer servers and professional development.
Whereas about $500 million is available through the Microsoft pool of money, just $33 million is available through the federal educational technology program, according to Marianne Pack, director of the California Technology Assistance Project for the Delta Sierra region.
"We are pleased that at least the K-12 voucher money is available for some schools to use the next six years," Pack said, "but California needs to have a consistent method of state funding for all its schools to integrate technology into the curriculum."
Innovations In Florida And Pennsylvania
The schools with advanced technology programs tend to have administrators and local officials who view technology as a tool for reaching the student performance goals mandated under the 2002 federal education law known as the No Child Left Behind Act, according to Mary Ann Wolf, executive director at the State Educational Technology Directors Association.
"With all of the emphasis on the No Child Left Behind requirements and so much emphasis based on student achievement, in some places they just don't feel like they can step back and implement these kinds of programs" without federal incentives, Wolf said.
One state that has realized the connection between technology and achievement is Florida. The state-funded Florida Virtual School offers Internet-based courses to public, private and home-schooled students. "We are affiliated with every district in the state," said Pam Birtolo, the school's chief learning officer. "In order for us to get paid, the student must pass the course."
The school originated in 1997 as a grant between two school districts, later became a legislative line item and was finally folded into the state's funding model in 2003. Birtolo credits the school's survival to the efforts of the state leadership, the quality of the school's board of directors and the acceptance among the student population.
During 2005-2006, the virtual school served more than 31,000 students. Many were in rural schools and wanted to take advanced-placement courses or foreign-language courses not offered locally. Others were trying to recover credits or graduate early. And 25 percent of enrollees were home-schooled students who wanted access to a broader curriculum.
Some just enjoyed being able to learn online. "I think part of it is the connection. ... Our teachers spend a great deal of time on the phone with students," Birtolo said. Teachers communicate with students and parents via telephone, e-mail, Web chats, instant-messaging and online forums.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell has just begun an initiative -- expected to cost the state $200 million -- that will provide a laptop for every high-school student and teacher in mathematics, English, science and social studies classrooms by 2009. He has committed $26 million toward the program in his 2006-2007 budget, according to Pennsylvania Education Department spokesman Mike Storm. That amount will fund 103 state high schools out of about 650 total.
Wanted: Champions Of Educational Technology
Maine's Education Department has been a pioneer in providing laptops. Since 2003, every seventh- and eighth-grade student in public school has had one.
But even Maine's funding plan had to be scrapped at first due to budget constraints. The original idea was to launch the program with a $70 million endowment from the surplus of state funds accumulated during the booming 1990s economy. Going forward, the state would grow the endowment through private philanthropy.
"Unfortunately, the economy soured and the state was unable to dedicate all the funds for an endowment," said Jeff Mao, Maine's coordinator of educational technology. Instead, the state has taken money from the annual budget's general-purpose appropriation for schools. "Currently, approximately $10 million a year of the over $800 million of [general-purpose appropriations] are used to support the program."
Mao said that educational technology projects require a champion that will fight for schools in the political arena. "For us, we were very fortunate to have a champion in Gov. Angus King," he said. "It is ultimately not a question of whether or not a state can afford to do this because it is clear to me that it is affordable. We've been doing this for years now, and we are not a wealthy state. It is a matter, like everything else, of political will and prioritization."
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