Chesterfield: Means and Ends
Technology is a marvelous thing, and the world would be much poorer without it. Chesterfield's intention to spend $13 million on faculty and administration netbooks, an electronic portal, and similar whiz-bangery probably will usher in a number of benefits, planned and unplanned.
It probably also will usher in a number of headaches, many of them unforeseen. Henrico's experience with iBooks proved a double-edged sword.
The fixation on technology calls to mind an essay, "The Paradox of Our Age," written over a decade ago by a Seattle minister, now retired:
"We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems . . . .We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality . . . ."
We hope the county's innovative technology plan proves to be a smashing success. We also hope the school system remembers it's possible to be so enchanted by your new GPS gadget that you forget where you were supposed to be headed in the first place.
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“We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems . . . .We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality . . . .“
This is exactly what ails the Chesterfield County School Board. They have lived in the world of “never-never-land” for so long they are completely out of touch.
Instead of blowing 13 million which is probably no where near the true cost as evidenced by the state IT fiasco this money could be better used on teacher pay and for alleviating the high cost of additional fees on students parents.
Chesterfield residents should vote out every school board member and start over. Better yet go back to the old method of appointed board members.
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