OUR VIEWPOINT: Technology investment paying off for local districts | Opinion

One of the common objections in recent school bond elections was that using the money for technology such as iPads and Chromebooks wasn’t a wise investment. The devices soon would be outdated, and it was all but certain a good number of them would just walk off if allowed to go home with students.

Besides, those kids’ parents and grandparents did just fine with worksheets, giant tablets and pencils the circumference of a giant redwood. Why do those kids need gadgets to learn?

That can be answered this month with clarity. That technology is allowing local children to continue learning during an unexpectedly long absence from classrooms.

School districts with the means to invest in take-home technology — achieving the goal set years ago of having an available device for every student — already have been able to implement distance learning programs. That includes Brazosport ISD and Sweeny ISD, two school systems that benefit greatly from the property tax wealth generated by industrial complexes in their boundaries.

Smaller districts without that advantage, such as Danbury ISD, still are trying to assemble their at-home learning programs. It lacks the resources to get a $200 Chromebook for every student enrolled, and is asking people to donate through its education foundation to help them get more.

Angleton ISD, a district many mistake for one flush in tax money, has more than half its students whose household income qualifies them for free breakfast and lunch. It has some resources, but even then, handing a kid a tablet when they don’t have Wi-Fi at home isn’t effective either. Superintendent Phil Edwards last week said some of his district’s initiatives would have to be old-school, such as workbooks and worksheets.

With the technology it does have available, the old argument about student theft of the devices became a point of debate. Trustee Dana Tolbert had a quick response.

“In my heart, I just think we just need to set them up to have something — and if we don’t get the money back, if we take a hit, we can figure it out later,” she said.

This is not to invite any family to help themselves to a free laptop, but given the crisis environment we are in, the loss of a child’s education is far more egregious than a missing device. As we often are told, they’re just things.

The technological divide we are seeing in the ability to teach kids remotely also should awaken people to the problems in how our schools are funded. In an era when kids grow up playing games on their parents’ cell phone, it’s only logical the state would provide better resources to allow every child in Texas to have access to the same technology.

Just as we are seeing in Brazoria County, the investment in technology is money well-spent. It can be seen in the students who spent part of last week engaged in their education versus those waiting for a pack of worksheets to come home from their campus.

This editorial was written by Michael Morris, managing editor of The Facts.

Comments are closed.