I am reading several articles recently that reported outrage in unfair distribution of resources. About how the obscure modern musicians keep saying, ""the schools do not have enough money; there are not enough resources,"" etc.
But wait a minute. We did not have tons and tons of fancy "resources" back when I was in school. The most state-of-the-art technology we had in grade schools while growing up was... overhead projectors.
We did not have fancy laser disc players, temperature-barometer scales with glass beads, or any of those other little fancy expensive glamour-curiosities you see on the mail-order shopping catalogues on airplane flights. You know what I'm talking about, those privileged luxury items like mechanized electronic bird feeders or something.
Other than the overhead projectors, we had chalkboards. In some classrooms, there were dry-erase boards that used markers to write with in place of chalk. These showed up as an upgrade in fifth grade. That was the extent of the technological marvel that teachers had at their disposal, and to which us kids were exposed. And if I recall correctly the overhead projectors only appeared in high school. They did not exist in elementary and middle schools.
Hmm... Wait, maybe the commentators are on to something. Now that I recall, we did have computers in grade school starting from way back in first or second grade. We had the little Apple II computers with the green screen! They were awesome. We wrote and bound and print little books on them. I remember now. They usually displayed a very dark green screen with a neon green text in line-item format. Once in a while we could go to a different mode/setting and obtain little pictures. These were on a much lighter shade of green.
It had a separate disk drive thing, now I remember. It was basically a word processor with a screen. I don't remember if it had a mouse or not. We had a unit of Creative Writing in which each student had to write and "publish" a full-length book. We had to plan pages, illustrate the cover, and illustrate the story. The stories were then bound and printed like actual books.
In almost every single elementary school I attended, this was the case regarding the computers. There might not always have been a computer right in the same home classroom, but they were there on campus, perhaps in a computer lab. (I recall middle and high schools.)
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Some people are complaining that some school districts receive more money than other school districts, and that this is somehow unfair. Some school districts are able to spend tons of money on new lockers, freshly painted hallways, new desks, new textbooks. Whereas other school districts do not have enough computers in the schools or something.
But a small, obscure, hidden-away rare article told the whole story.
This article told of high school football players' parents who were actively involved in their kids' education, in one school district. So it was a community-wide effort, not just solely the responsibility of the teachers.
Parents of those kids did tons of work to help the teachers and the greater district. They did not just content themselves with letting the teachers do all the work. They did volunteer work for whatever the schools needed. Pitched in with their own efforts if ever the schools fell short. They spearheaded fundraising efforts. And if there were still requirements that needed to be met, the parents donated their own hard-earned money towards the schools' needs. School supplies, classroom supplies, athletic supplies
This was a tucked-away unearthly gem revealed the whole story. I am guessing the other districts that cried "nofair!" probably did not have nearly as much involvement or contribution from the parents and families. So, no. It is *not* "unfair" that that particular school district got more money than other surrounding districts. Said district did not "get" more money. They *earned* the money themselves through hard work and determination.
I recall that my own high school district offered AP exams for free. That meant my district was very well-funded. Well, who funded it, the fairy godmother? No, the surrounding communities and neighborhoods which the school district served-- they were the ones that funded and supported the schools.
But wait a minute. We did not have tons and tons of fancy "resources" back when I was in school. The most state-of-the-art technology we had in grade schools while growing up was... overhead projectors.
We did not have fancy laser disc players, temperature-barometer scales with glass beads, or any of those other little fancy expensive glamour-curiosities you see on the mail-order shopping catalogues on airplane flights. You know what I'm talking about, those privileged luxury items like mechanized electronic bird feeders or something.
Other than the overhead projectors, we had chalkboards. In some classrooms, there were dry-erase boards that used markers to write with in place of chalk. These showed up as an upgrade in fifth grade. That was the extent of the technological marvel that teachers had at their disposal, and to which us kids were exposed. And if I recall correctly the overhead projectors only appeared in high school. They did not exist in elementary and middle schools.
Hmm... Wait, maybe the commentators are on to something. Now that I recall, we did have computers in grade school starting from way back in first or second grade. We had the little Apple II computers with the green screen! They were awesome. We wrote and bound and print little books on them. I remember now. They usually displayed a very dark green screen with a neon green text in line-item format. Once in a while we could go to a different mode/setting and obtain little pictures. These were on a much lighter shade of green.
It had a separate disk drive thing, now I remember. It was basically a word processor with a screen. I don't remember if it had a mouse or not. We had a unit of Creative Writing in which each student had to write and "publish" a full-length book. We had to plan pages, illustrate the cover, and illustrate the story. The stories were then bound and printed like actual books.
In almost every single elementary school I attended, this was the case regarding the computers. There might not always have been a computer right in the same home classroom, but they were there on campus, perhaps in a computer lab. (I recall middle and high schools.)
----
Some people are complaining that some school districts receive more money than other school districts, and that this is somehow unfair. Some school districts are able to spend tons of money on new lockers, freshly painted hallways, new desks, new textbooks. Whereas other school districts do not have enough computers in the schools or something.
But a small, obscure, hidden-away rare article told the whole story.
This article told of high school football players' parents who were actively involved in their kids' education, in one school district. So it was a community-wide effort, not just solely the responsibility of the teachers.
Parents of those kids did tons of work to help the teachers and the greater district. They did not just content themselves with letting the teachers do all the work. They did volunteer work for whatever the schools needed. Pitched in with their own efforts if ever the schools fell short. They spearheaded fundraising efforts. And if there were still requirements that needed to be met, the parents donated their own hard-earned money towards the schools' needs. School supplies, classroom supplies, athletic supplies
This was a tucked-away unearthly gem revealed the whole story. I am guessing the other districts that cried "nofair!" probably did not have nearly as much involvement or contribution from the parents and families. So, no. It is *not* "unfair" that that particular school district got more money than other surrounding districts. Said district did not "get" more money. They *earned* the money themselves through hard work and determination.
I recall that my own high school district offered AP exams for free. That meant my district was very well-funded. Well, who funded it, the fairy godmother? No, the surrounding communities and neighborhoods which the school district served-- they were the ones that funded and supported the schools.
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