If our students don't learn to use computers or have that technology available...we're not keeping up with the demands of their education...investing in technological educational tools is investing in a more competitive America....we lag behind the world in engineering and math as it is. You want to gut some school budgets.....sports gets more than it's fair share of money. Start there.
I came really close to running for school board in the San Jose area in the 1980s. The town I lived in had 3 schools. 2/3 of the population (or school kids) were hispanic and spoke spanish at home. The schools spent a fortune teaching them english, when they could have just had 2 of the schools teach in spanish and teach english as a 2nd language (you know, like my french class in high school). The parents were pretty upset. The district had $1M+ in its "capital" budget that they wouldn't (or weren't allowed to) spend on a new library and computer lab. Instead, they let the state come along at the end of the year and "sweep" that money away, never to be used for the children's benefit. Wouldn't have been like that at a private school, or even a non-government public school. The obvious truth is that you can teach kids math in spanish. You can teach them science, and art, and music in spanish, too.
Come on, bud. You claim to know Corvallis. One of the more affluent cities in the state. Also on of the most closed minded. The IPad had less functions than the kids phones. There was a 98% computer access in the district. The other two percent were parents that did not allow their child to pound on a keyboard day and night. Even those few families that were in dire straights had computer access. There is also a computer lab available to every student on campus . The IPads were complete and utter waste.
you could very well be right about waste....I only know OSU when it comes to Corvalis...love the town...restaurants and music stores....no contact with their public school system or board...my son went to OSU for 4 years...my sentiments are general about education and investment in education...in Lane County our library provided some laptops and Ipads for checkout...free to students. I don't know anything about the school board you refer to but there are plenty of wasteful school boards ...I'll give you that
Maybe you need to do a little bit of math. Back of the envelope: $10K/student (Oregon) x 40 students/homeroom (overcrowded, too high a pupil/teacher ratio!) = $400 per homeroom Pay the teacher $150K Pay $150K for computers You still have $100K to pay the janitor (principal, etc.), maintenance on the school, band instruments, etc. That's PER homeroom. You might have 10+ homerooms per grade in a school of 1600 students. It's actually $10,400 per student and $400 per student for school bus expenses. I'm not seeing there isn't enough money.
Thats great, OS is a great school (you know they dropped the "U"). Believe me, I am very pro education. That is how I became involved to begin with. The money is there to protect the kids. We could use several systems, from card locks with visual recognition in conjunction with armed security guards. single point of entry. Just like when you visit a police dept. Have to get buzzed in. There are was to do it. There is the money to do it. Just not the political will.
Our school system uses grants wisely....Bill Gates bought a lot of our computers...there are ways to make it work....150 K for a teacher is pretty rare in Oregon Denny unless you're a professor. That's admin salary stuff...I'd make a lot of changes if I could...it's not easy to pass things through most school boards...although I benefit from it...PERS is a big expense in Oregon
I was suggesting the spending could be generous. The complaint about overcrowded schools and underpaid teachers and the schools need more money isn't something I'm buying into. The real cost is over-generous benefits. Oregon schools pay $.65 in teacher benefits for every $1 in salary. A fair value would be in the $.05 to $.15 range.
So is everybody going in circles in this conversation? Has anything been solved? Or are we still blaming video games, diet, and insomnia for school shootings?
Not trying to hijack the thread, but can you provide a press release on that? It's still Oregon State University as far as I know.
pretty sure he's right about that...I have an OS beaver logo on my fridge...I still call it OSU ...I don't care if Oklahoma and Ohio use it as well
That is just a logo. An old one at that. I don't understand how they "removed the U". It will always be Oregon State University.
All opinions should be respected. With that said, we live in a world where opinions are taking over America, despite having an accurate foundation or platform of which to form that opinion they are so vociferous about. We really do need to get back to the facts of things rather than following the loudest opinion in the news or wherever. Unless that opnion is backed by the facts.
