However much was spent on iPads and such for the Calexico Unified School District, it was too much.
While there appears to be dispute regarding how much was spent for how many iPads and other computers and who received the devices, the real issue is whether the district should have used so much money on technology when it is in desperate need of teachers and teaching. Simply, with the CUSD plagued by terrible test scores, the money would have been better spent on hiring more people to instruct students.
The latest figure coming from the district is that it spent $177,584.21 in grant money on iPads, MacBooks, related equipment and such. According to the grant, that money had to be spent by a certain deadline on special education or technology. According to our estimates, $177,584.21 would hire three — OK, maybe two and a half — special education teachers for a year.
On top of that, money from the grant went to buying computers for Calexico’s Vincent Memorial High School. Vincent is a fine school indeed, but it is a private Catholic school and we wonder how and why such mixing and mingling with CUSD took place.
We are not among those who consider iPads toys. They are amazing devices on which much important work and learning can be done. In fact, it would be good to see many of the iPads moving from the hands of the administrators and school board members to teachers and students.
Unfortunately, a huge chunk of money was spent on something many see as at best tangential to improving learning in the district. We applaud Trustee Norma Aguilar for bringing this issue to the forefront.
When longtime local educational administrator Dick Fragale was brought in to lead the CUSD, we thought such errors in judgment, which long have plagued the district, would happen less frequently and less spectacularly. In this case, Fragale failed to grasp the bad publicity such a purchase would bring.
The iPads and such, now largely programmed and in use, cannot be returned for a decent value. Our hope is they are at least put to optimum use so the district’s students can get as much benefit as possible from a questionable purchase.
THE ISSUE iPad purchases in CUSD
WE SAY Make the best of it now
WHAT DO YOU SAY? Send us your thoughts on this topic to www.ivpressonline.com/letterstotheeditor
While there appears to be dispute regarding how much was spent for how many iPads and other computers and who received the devices, the real issue is whether the district should have used so much money on technology when it is in desperate need of teachers and teaching. Simply, with the CUSD plagued by terrible test scores, the money would have been better spent on hiring more people to instruct students.
The latest figure coming from the district is that it spent $177,584.21 in grant money on iPads, MacBooks, related equipment and such. According to the grant, that money had to be spent by a certain deadline on special education or technology. According to our estimates, $177,584.21 would hire three — OK, maybe two and a half — special education teachers for a year.
On top of that, money from the grant went to buying computers for Calexico’s Vincent Memorial High School. Vincent is a fine school indeed, but it is a private Catholic school and we wonder how and why such mixing and mingling with CUSD took place.
We are not among those who consider iPads toys. They are amazing devices on which much important work and learning can be done. In fact, it would be good to see many of the iPads moving from the hands of the administrators and school board members to teachers and students.
Unfortunately, a huge chunk of money was spent on something many see as at best tangential to improving learning in the district. We applaud Trustee Norma Aguilar for bringing this issue to the forefront.
When longtime local educational administrator Dick Fragale was brought in to lead the CUSD, we thought such errors in judgment, which long have plagued the district, would happen less frequently and less spectacularly. In this case, Fragale failed to grasp the bad publicity such a purchase would bring.
The iPads and such, now largely programmed and in use, cannot be returned for a decent value. Our hope is they are at least put to optimum use so the district’s students can get as much benefit as possible from a questionable purchase.
THE ISSUE iPad purchases in CUSD
WE SAY Make the best of it now
WHAT DO YOU SAY? Send us your thoughts on this topic to www.ivpressonline.com/letterstotheeditor
