city school closings

[jabumbo]

kinda long article (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05314/603865.stm)


apparently the city schools here have a $47 million budget deficit and so they are closing/relocating 20 schools, including one of the high schools that is oging to move like 1,400 students

its amazing how much money they don't have, but i think a lot of it could have been saved if they didnt do some of the stupid shit they do like put a million computers in eleentary schools. fuckin kids don't need to learn to type that young, they can wait a while...

[ms.peachy]

its amazing how much money they don't have, but i think a lot of it could have been saved if they didnt do some of the stupid shit they do like put a million computers in eleentary schools. fuckin kids don't need to learn to type that young, they can wait a while...

Well, I don't dispute that it is probable that money could have been better spent in some areas, but I firmly disagree with the idea that elementary school classrooms don't desperately need computers. This is especially true in lower-inncome areas, where children may not have access to computers at home.

One of the biggest shifts in education today is the changes in how technology can be applied to facilitate learning. Here in the UK, there are schools piloting entirely digital classrooms - whiteboards instead of blackboards, kids take assignments home on handhelds rather than in books, etc. This is the future and kids need to be IT literate. The younger they learn to manipulate the technology, the better.

[jabumbo]

but when my sister spends more time in school learning how to search the online encyclopedia than learning how to write in cursive or learn long division, i don't understand...

i mean, i learned how to use a computer in 6th grade through a typing class that went for 1/3rd of the year, and i know more than most people. sure, they should have a lab for kids to go to, but sometimes i don't understand why so much money can be poured into some of this stuff, and then they come around and say that they can't afford to purchase new books to replace the ones that are falling apart because they are 20 years old

[kll]

i think it's just lovely that jabumbo not only finds such articles but searches them out. jabumbo's love for his city and interest in preserving it is heartwarming. i love jabumbo.