In today's news-that-should-come-as-a-surprise-to-no-one, we read that an Arizona school district has discovered that lavish spending on technological frippery does not translate automatically into higher test scores. Next thing you know, Arizonans will figure out that desert living makes you thirsty!
Why do people persist in considering technology the answer to all our nation's educational woes? Wishful thinking, we suppose. After all, software programs don't unionize (unless those "Terminator" movies were right). And presumably, in the long run, educational software is cheaper than flesh-and-blood teachers. Except when you have to make upgrades. Never mind.
The truly infuriating thing is that, while this Arizona district--and presumably similar districts across the country--are seeking millions of taxpayer dollars to ensure a steady supply of iPad apps, teachers whose salaries range from the low to mid-five figures, must take on second jobs at strip malls to make ends meet and pay out of their own pockets for less flashy classroom equipment--like pencils and paper.
Maybe if the money spent on the latest edu-craze went instead to improving teachers' quality of life--enabling them, for example, to spend the time on students that they currently devote to menial second jobs--maybe this would actually result in concrete improvement to those all-important test scores everybody keeps fretting over.
The raw materials of our students' success are already in the classroom, and they are flesh-and-blood, not silicon and code.
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