Backers: Education plan helps all
SANDPOINT — Supporters of education reform across the state are trying to allay rural concerns about increased technology in schools with highly-variable infrastructure.
Idaho Superintendent of Education Tom Luna’s educational overhaul, proposed in January, polarized Idaho residents, especially those in rural communities who worry their community’s infrastructure won’t be able to support the increased emphasis on technology.
Supporters responded to criticisms, saying that rural counties have much to gain from a technological emphasis.
“We had to present an option to the Legislature about what to do this year,” State Department of Education public information officer Melissa McGrath said. “And we had to shift $12 million from the state education budget, so our choice was whether to use the same approach with reduced services or try to spend our money differently.”
Luna decided to cut 770 positions over a five-year period from Idaho education staff by gradually increasing class size. Although he said the loss of staff could be absorbed by natural attrition, the staff-shedding and increased class sizes concerned many.
To address class sizes, Luna has turned to technology. Districts would give each high schooler a laptop to use throughout the next four years. They would also be required to take online classes each year to graduate. McGrath said these requirements wouldn’t go in effect until fall 2012.
Worries about variability in student home Internet access don’t pose as serious a problem as critics believed, she added.
“All online classes will be taken during normal school hours,” she said.
That specification should lessen the advantage that students with broadband Internet at home might wield. And according to Sandpoint Charter School Principal Alan Millar, those students already have an edge.
“When it comes to research and homework, students with a fast Internet connection have an advantage even today,” he said.
School districts will also determine exactly what online classes will entail. As opposed to the traditional, primarily text-based Internet classes that use message boards and e-mail, schools could take a page from Sandpoint High School, which set up a live video feed to an Eagle classroom so a handful of exceptional math students could take Calculus II.
“Types of online classes will be mixed across the state,” McGrath said. “It will be up to the districts to decide exactly what they will look like.”
Millar suggested that while online courses could be useful, state guidance might be necessary.
“Our big emphasis is that there’s a wide variation in quality with online courses,” he said. “I think the state needs to have standards for quality in online education.”
The prospect of providing laptops for students also prompted discussion. Some worried that the constant expense and potential for break-downs or student mischief would doom the plan to failure. McGrath pointed out that the state had devoted $53 million for a technological fund that didn’t include the laptop purchases.
And Millar said that laptops offer advantages in the classroom, a position he holds from two years of implementation.
“They’re no substitute for a good teacher, but they do offer a great amount of leverage in any given subject,” he said. “For example, students in government class were debating each other and were able to instantly look up arguments for their positions.”
As for maintenance, Millar did need to hire a full-time IT staffer. But much of the work was mitigated by training students with classes in technical support. The move both saved the school money and gave its students early training in a booming career field.
According to Millar, Luna’s proposed education reforms look a lot like Sandpoint Charter School’s operation for the past few years.
“We are a little apprehensive and have good reason to be, because budget cuts always affect smallest schools the most,” he said. “But I believe the reform side of this proposal is well-worth pursuing in general.”