Get Schooled

By Sly

April 22, 2005 12:16 PM | Link to this

Everybody with children in schools should get involved. Not sure what buying these kids a laptop will accomplish. Most of em have one anyway. But why Mac? There are comparatively minimal Macs in the workplace. Who sold Cobb this snake oil?

By Mike

April 22, 2005 12:43 PM | Link to this

Cobb County schools managed to lose over $1 millions dollars of band equipment in the school 2003 year. Band Equipment….. How much will they lose of the computer equipment? 10 % or 25%? Right now Cobb County Schools need to prove they can run their programs within a budget. PERIOD! Once that happens maybe we these give away programs will have a place. With 23 years of IT experience and a thorough knowledge of these types of users, this is one huge disaster about to happen. Thank God my kids are out cause our school system is slipping away.

By Shauna

April 22, 2005 01:23 PM | Link to this

Thank God I don’t live in Cobb County. I want to know, what are the schools going to do when a child looses their computer? Give them another one? This is ridiculous. I can see giving the teachers a laptop. I’m sure that it will make their jobs a little easier, but that is too many computers for one county to try and keep track of. They need to remember that not all parents care what is going on in their kids lives. Then add that to other factors in kids lives. It is just too much responsibility, especially for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. I’m sure there are some responsible kids out their, I’m not talking about all of them.

I agree with Sly, everyone with kids in school should get a vote and get involved. Actually, everyone who pays county taxes should get a vote.

Good luck Cobb, you’re gonna need it!!

By yesiamworried

April 22, 2005 01:45 PM | Link to this

I am concerned with the direction of some of the policies of Cobb County Schools. It seems with the movement towards year round school and this idea to buy computers for so many students, they have totally forgotten that the vast majority of their students (70 percent or more) are solidly middle class or higher.

They have access to technology at home. Target the program to those who don’t and use the excess funds to help all students who aren’t being successful — something technology alone won’t accomplish.

By Jake

April 22, 2005 02:10 PM | Link to this

Purely political in an attempt to appear progressive and overcome all the negative publicity from the evolution debacle. I’m not sure about the high school kids but the middle schools can’t keep up with band equipment or library books.

By Shauna

April 22, 2005 02:11 PM | Link to this

yesiamworried,

Good point!! Great response!!

By Shae

April 22, 2005 02:14 PM | Link to this

This is probably not the best idea. Why laptops? Do they not have computers in the classroom as other schools do??? What is the county going to do when some kids get the idea to put porn on their computer? Are they going to install software on every single computer? This is not a good idea…who thought up this idea anyway???

By Dan

April 22, 2005 02:21 PM | Link to this

I kind of think it is crazy, like teaching kids how to use a calculator before doing long division with a pencil. As for losing computers, i understand the parents are responsible for paying for insurance, nuch like a cell phone, at about $50 year. As for the demographic comments, I don’t remember specifically but i seem to recall sometime in the last year or so a few million dollars of comp equip purchased with federal $ where found collecting dust in a fulton county sschool whse. They just never got around to handing them out

By brandy

April 22, 2005 02:36 PM | Link to this

Well I totally agree with all of you. Its bad enough that some kids can’t keep up with a $50 book or a $90 calculator, and you asking them to be responsible for a laptop that is worth hundreds? Where’s the logic in that. And what about the other issues like if someone steals someone’s computer or if kids leave the county. It is almost virtually impossible to keep up with that many computers. Clearly they haven’t thought this through. I just wonder how they will control how the student uses the laptop.

By Dan

April 22, 2005 02:39 PM | Link to this

Check out this article if you want a taste of government and school waste.

www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/index/erateindex.html

Schools must have more accountability in all areas

By Lisa

April 22, 2005 02:39 PM | Link to this

Hello I think once again this is the over spill of the NCLB LAW!!, thats running over in all school.especially schools that or public and federal funded.I know Cobb Schools is nothing like Atlanta School, which can use them.Most of the kids in Cobb School come from working families which half of the kids have them already!!! I think once again It’s just another way to control and make money!!! Hey Patti Great Topic!!!

By Dan

April 22, 2005 02:51 PM | Link to this

hey lisa read the link I posted above Atlanta schools had virtually unlimited access to computers via federal funds, and they not only overpaid but didn’t use them!! So again mismanagement and lack of acocuntability are failing the taxpayers

By Shauna

April 22, 2005 02:58 PM | Link to this

Wait a minute - Are you telling me that the parents are going to be responsible for paying something for theses computers? I didn’t know that! What exactly are the parents responsible for paying?

By Dan

April 22, 2005 03:04 PM | Link to this

what I read was they were responsible for paying for the insurance which is about $50 a year (I think that is what I read). Which is not to bad if you consider it could replace some notebooks, book covers etc. and like cell phone insurance the company would replace it. Off course despite that safety net unless they were diligent about backing up and all or saving school work to the network they would lose the work stored on the computer. this could (maybe I should say WILL) become the cyber version of the dog ate my homework

By Shauna

April 22, 2005 03:15 PM | Link to this

Dan,

You make a great point about saving and backing up work. What are the teachers supposed to do when students lose their backup? I haven’t really kept up with this issue because it was in Cobb County. I see now that was a big mistake. I thank you for all of your information. I now see that I cannot continue to be ignorant to the issues just because I don’t live in certain area. You never know, other counties may follow suit here soon. Then we are all in trouble.

Does anyone know exactly what they are trying to accomplish with this?

By Lisa

April 22, 2005 03:23 PM | Link to this

Dan I know about Atlanta first hand!!The scary thing about that stiuation is that you have board members and all who have there computer business and getting these contracts from each other.And most of the kids in Southside Atlanta Public School really need them.It’s awful that no one took full responsibility for wasting money as well computers,That’s why a group of parents right now or suing and asking for the removal of 5 board members.Atlanta need new leaders who will not continue to handicapp the system.Most of these official already have business and they only agree to be part of that GOOD OLE BOY SYSTEM!!!It’s AWFUL!! ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

By Dan

April 22, 2005 03:48 PM | Link to this

yeah I finished my masters last year and while we had live classes we recieved and submitted 90% of our assignments via the computer. It was a great time saver and tool for both students and teachers alike, but there was still a lot of time used in training and there were still some issues and conflicts regarding receipt of docs etc. There was also a good deal of web surfing during class, so you can imagine what would happen with kids

By Scott

April 22, 2005 04:16 PM | Link to this

Based on all comments read on this posting, most everyone is against this. This Cobb taxpayer agrees. FYI - There is one primary reason for this situation: The SUPERego of Cobb SUPERintendent Joe Redden (i.e. “THE GENERAL”)! Wake up Cobb Voters! Vote out of office those school board members who voted for the program concept. I asked my 14 year old honor student what he thought of the idea and he just laughed and said the kids would tear them up. He then proceeded to ask about the insurance. This should tell you something. He’s a very responsible kid, but you should see the dents in the new trombone we purchased for him last year - and it’s stored and transported in a hard case. FYI - A crowded school bus is no place for a laptop in a skimpy padded backpack!

By MrLiberty

April 22, 2005 04:21 PM | Link to this

Typical government waste. Government schools suck. Laptops aren’t going to fix that problem.

Parents, get you kids out of these prisons before its too late!

Homeschool them. That’s the only real solution to today’s educational problems.

By Shae

April 22, 2005 04:21 PM | Link to this

I just do not understand what happened to good ‘ol fashion teaching. Pencil/pen-paper-textbook. I know the world is changing drastically with technology but do we really need to have our kids have laptops at school. The points about internet surfing during class,etc. are all great points. When I was in school we would have kids sneak and play games on the computers in the classrooms and library..just imagine what they will get away with having their own laptops. They need to think about AIM from AOL that all the kids are signing up for…games they may aply….sites they may go on…I would not be surprised if the testing percantage,etc. went down significantly in Cobb. They just have not thought this decision out. Have they involved the parents? (Such as meetings, etc.)

By Shae

April 22, 2005 04:24 PM | Link to this

What happened to good ‘ol fashioned teaching-pen,pencil,paper,textbook? Have they involved the parents any with meetings and such? Have they thought about the kids getting on AIM from AOL-the games they will play during class-the sites they may go on? I would not be surprised if the percantages of testing went down signifcantly in Cobb.

By Craig

April 22, 2005 04:58 PM | Link to this

The problems with the Atlanta computers was a little different. They were bought under the Federal eRate program. You and I pay a fee (tax) on each of our phone bills that provide internet access to the schools. The vendors who sell/install/maintain these systems simply sold Atlanta much more “stuff” than they needed. Why not, the Feds pay a percentage equal to the school’s subsidized lunch population so everything in Atlanta was virtually free. (Unless you include the fees in your phone bill…)

In Cobb, the idea is to replace the textbooks with computerized versions on the laptops. I agree with most other posters that thousands of these will be misplaced or damaged each year. The bigger question is why Apple? If you want computer literate children with skills valuable in the workplace you really need something running Windows in an Intel environment (sorry Linux fans…). Teaching the kids on Apple is like using horses and buggies for drivers education.

By Ken

April 22, 2005 05:08 PM | Link to this

Well, just the fact that the Cobb school board members chose Apple computers tells you that they don’t have a clue about what they are doing. Apple has always kept the K-12 market to itself; none of its vendors or partners could sell Apple computers to schools. The reason for this? Schools don’t know diddly about basic concepts such as fair market value and ROI. Schools will buy stuff simply because “…it’s there.” Apple realizes this and knows that a tremendous profit can be made. Especially considering that the business community has thoroughly rejected Apple computers; misinformed school boards are the only means left for Apple to dump its computers onto.

By Dan

April 25, 2005 12:16 PM | Link to this

Well I have never used an apple but I have a lot of friend who are IT geeks (no insult intended) who swear by them. Business only rejected them because everyone is used to the windows version. The reality is they are both very similar If I remember correctly Apple is selling them to the county for around 200-300 apiece. So they aren’t making any money on the sale of these computers, thsy may even be losing money, but if kids get used to macs early thats what they will use later in life which is what apple is banking on. Actually a pretty smart move. While I don’t necessarily think laptops are a good idea, if the powers that be insist on them, at least they did well cost wise

By ML

April 25, 2005 12:39 PM | Link to this

Computers and using them must be considered very important to make such an investment. However, many people are not aware that for school systems in Georgia(almost all) require not one computer course to graduate. Many systems offer IT programs and Computer Applications in Business Programs but they are electives in Highschool and about 15% of the students take them. In other words, 15% of Highschool students in Georgia take at least one computer class. The other 85% graduate with no computers classes at all. Could be time to rethink whats required and important in Georgia HighSchools. Is knowing about computers and how to use them important. Must not be in Georgia, just having one to carry around is the only thing important.

By Dan

April 25, 2005 01:14 PM | Link to this

Good point ML had this discussion with a friend who is a teacher at pius, we both thought requiring a computer course or courses would be far more beneficial

By Ken

April 25, 2005 02:21 PM | Link to this

Dan, remember the old saying: “Give ‘em razors for free, but sell ‘em the blades!”

That’s what’s going on here: There’s no limit to how lucrative this deal is, simply based on the price of the computers. Software, replacement parts, consumables, support, all of that is an ongoing need that makes the entire deal one that Apple will reap immediate benefits from. “Cost-wise”, this deal could work out to be a considerably more expensive than first promised. If we can agree that Apple is not in the business of losing money (at least not intentionally), then it makes sense that Apple wouldn’t be so gung-ho on this deal if it wasn’t going to positively affect their bottom line in the immediate, as opposed to the “later in life”. Also, businesses didn’t just reject Apple “…because everyone is used to Windows” (although, that’s certainly a justifiable reason), they rejected Apple because the availability of applications, the price/licensing of applications, and the cost of hardware did not compare to the same for Windows. One of the more renowned self-defeating policies of Apple was/is that it refused to allow other manufacturers to make computers for them (which would have lowered the price much like Intel-based computers came down in price), so as a result, Apple pretty much priced itself out of the home user/corporate markets. That is one of the main reasons everyone came to be used to Windows.
Other than Pixar (which is run by Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder) and certain graphic industries, there’re no other places to market Apple computers on a large scale. Except, of course, marketing to misinformed school boards who’ll jump at anything that corporations dangle in front of their noses….and, invariably, find themselves eaten alive as a result.

By Dan

April 25, 2005 02:55 PM | Link to this

You are absolutely right about apples poor marketing and naf decisions. The functionality may even be better than windows, but because they lost the race to fill offices they have software availability issues. Fact is they were chosen because they were the low cost provider and I am still quite sure it is a strategic rather than tactical plan. Hey if all the kids have apples guess what mom and dad will by at home next. But all that is kind of off topic. The school boards real issue is giving laptops, any kind of laptops to all the kids. IBM or anyone else would have made just as much money off of them. Fact is the hardware is approaching commodity status.

By Anita

April 25, 2005 04:52 PM | Link to this

Does this plan seem like a bit of wealth redistribution to any of you? All I can think about when I hear about this proposal is the absurdity of the government providing to every student what is essentially a luxury item. There appears to be no real tangible educational benefit to owning a computer. Instead, what we have here is a disguised attempt to take the property of some to give property to others.

Use that money to hire teachers who can really teach students to DO something with technology, like programming and design. Use the money to build computer labs that would support that endeavor. Use taxpayer dollars to build a generation of technologically adept students who know how to do more than just chat online, students who can actually write and run the programs that control the machinery of our society.

Quite frankly, I’m disgusted with Cobb County’s plan and others like it. It’s time we stop throwing money at computer companies and start spending wisely to build for our childern’s futures.