Posted By: I.C. Clearly
I thought the school district was supposed to show both sides in presenting the Bond - did that happen? If they did, great, if not, well, I'm glad to see someone did.
I won't be voting for the Bond in May because I am not convinced that my child, who has every technological do-dad and computer and software, scanner, and printer at home, needs it at school too. My child intuitively knows all about using the computer and can learn the new stuff so quickly it makes my head spin.
If you did a poll, I'm sure you'd find this to be the case in most Okemos households.
I wouldn't mind supporting a lesser bond that updates the computers and provides new external hard drives or servers to "save files" but again, it seems as if this bond request is heavily padded with unnecessary additions. And I'm also not convinced all the teachers will use the requested PDAs. Sure, some will, but unless everyone is on board with learning and implementing the new systems, I think it could be a waste of money.
And I'm not putting down those teachers who don't want to rely strictly on technology. Many highly creative people work well on the chalk board, the overhead, or sitting on a desk next to a student while looking them in the eye. I often think that technology puts a distance between teacher and student at times. Lansing Catholic Central has an abysmal computer set up, and they are 4th in the state on their ACT scores. Great teachers do not become obsolete. Technology is a tool, not a panacea.
One thing I do know, people shouldn't be shamed into this expenditure if they really feel it might hurt their own financial situation.
Do what you can do.
Vote intelligently.