A recent letter was critical of educators. I'm concerned about the cost of education, too. But, rather than complain I joined an ISD 181 committee.
Before retirement, I was in information technology, so I was interested in the direction ISD 181 was headed using the computer as a tool, not a solution. In her working days, my wife managed a school's computer lab and felt many teachers saw computers as a threat not a tool. Has the landscape changed in the 10 years since our retirement?
I was curious, so I asked the district's IT director if I could meet with her separately rather than bore others in the meetings. She agreed to sit down with me. I came away very impressed. First of all, she's a former teacher not an outside IT guru. Change has to happen from within. Second, she's got a pretty good handle on current technology. Finally, she has passion! It takes a lot of passion to make change. She has a full plate and I'm convinced she can pull it off. Her introduction of the MakerSpaces program and getting tools into the hands of teachers is an excellent start. Are all our tax dollars being directed away from the classroom and into salaries and pension funds? No, the numbers don't show that.
This country has entered a period of retrenchment not unlike the periods following WWII/Korea and Vietnam. President Eisenhower believed a large standing army created a temptation to get into more ground wars. He cut military spending and balanced the budget. Our defense budget dwarfs the military spending of the next seven highest spending countries combined. Defense is 17 percent of our national budget while education is less than 3 percent. I'm hoping that current and future administrations will bring those numbers closer together.
Bob Bureau
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Nisswa
