Use it or Lose it

As a golfer I frequency hear that if you don't play and don't practice the skills that you have built up will begin to disappear. Living in the frozen north where our winters tend to deposit a lot on snow on golf courses making play or practice an impracticality, I can vouch for the premise to some extent. My 2 handicap does not carry over well from Novemeber to April but by the time it hits 5 or 6 in June I'm playing better and the handicap is helpful in those friendly wages that are a part of our game.

We are facing a similar situation with our computer in our schools. We have been directed to reduce the number of computers in schools to save on the cost of annual software and maintainance fees. We also have a directive that there should be a 3 to 1 students to computer ratio in each school so there is a technology parity for all students. This directive came about because during the budget reduction process some made a statement that over 800 of our 7000 computer had not been logged in on this school year. While that information was incorrect, there are a little over 200 that fits that description. Some of these are lab computers, some are set up as stand alone not connected to the network, and some are just not being used. The problem that faces us is all schools are at the parity level or better. We have several sites that through staff grant writing, IBM grants, and PTSA efforts have lowered the ratio to closer to 2 to 1 and have one school that is working towards 1 to 1 computing (now on hold). The problem is how do we determine what computers to remove. The schools that have pushed for and found ways to get more computers are schools that tend to make the most use of technology. If we reduce strictly on the 3 to 1 ratio is this fair to teachers and schools that worked to make more technology available? How will this impact day to day instruction? While I understand the concept of technology parity for access to school technology it seems to me that instead of increasing opportunities we are reducing opprtunities. In additon, a portion of our state's high stakes testing is done online. The reduction of computers at some sites will impact the number of days needed to complete the testing which in turn impacts the use of those machine for instruction.

We have a lot of questions right now and are looking for some creative answers. These includes moving some of the machines to open source operating systems and basic office programs, a techonlogy fee for all students, a site technology assessment for computer beyond the 3 to 1 ratio, and, of course, reducing the machines at sites. Hard questions for hard times.