Revenue Controls Put State Behind in School Technology
A new national study provides more evidence that state-imposed revenue
controls are harming the quality of education in Wisconsin public schools,
according to WEAC President Terry Craney.
“Technology Counts ‘99,” a special report from the education
newspaper, Education Week, reviewed the status of technology in schools
throughout the United States.
“Revenue controls are forcing districts
to cut spending, and
new items like technology are
the first to go.” |
Wisconsin falls below the nation in the categories of the percentage
of 4th- and 8th-grade students in schools that make computers available
in all classrooms, and hours of training for teachers.
“These are the categories that require funding,” Craney said.
“Wisconsin is obviously not making a commitment to technology. The
reason is clear: revenue controls are forcing districts to cut spending,
and new items like technology are the first to go.”
For the last five years, WEAC and the Wisconsin Association of School
District Administrators have surveyed school districts about the impact
of revenue controls and found repeatedly that districts are delaying or
reducing the purchase of computers and other technology.
Craney said decisions to forego technology will only hurt students and
the public in the long run.
“Students everywhere need to be familiar with computers as they
move into the working world,” he said. “We know of districts
with a very limited number of computers, or with computers that are hopelessly
out of date and irrelevant in the business world. The Legislature needs
to take a serious look at this study and realize the mistake it made when
it imposed revenue controls.”
School districts, he said, should not have to choose between investing
in technology or offering other essential educational services. Schools
should have adequate funding to provide all the resources needed for quality
education.
In Education Week’s new study, almost all of the 1,407 teachers
who responded have access to a computer, either at home or at school.
But many said they are not using technology to its full extent due to
cost, lack of enough computers in classrooms, confusion over which software
to use, and the fact that most digital content is designed to be used
as a supplemental resource, not as the core curriculum.
The report noted that educational technology is most effective when teachers
are provided adequate training and equipment.
Posted September 23, 1999