Although grants and some funding can come from the Federal
Government, it is the State Government that hands out the money to the
different districts and schools. According to the budget breakdown of school
funding for Indiana’s schools, found from http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/tag/school-funding-formula/,
“Currently, each district receives a minimum amount of $4,280 per enrolled
pupil.” Attendance is not the only factor that wages into the amount according
to StateImpact Indiana. Districts can
get additional funds depending on the number of students who are on free and
reduced lunch, students with disabilities, and students who graduate with
honors. Also, kindergarteners are not counted as a whole student; instead each
kindergartener is counted as half of a student. No wonder my schools growing up
made such a big deal about students staying in the school system. It might not
have to do with technology but this funding from the State Government is still
crucial when it comes to needed money for technology, if the schools cannot be
rewarded a grant to cover the costs of the expenses.
Now, what about actually getting technology into the
classroom? Like the Federal Government, State Governments’ have technology
plans too. Everyone knows that technology is a blossoming phenomenon in today’s
classrooms. Most schools have so much technology available to them today then
they did just 5 years ago. Each and every year there is something new for
teachers to use with their students. “Technology holds great potential for
education, but students are not using it to improve their learning because a)
they don’t have access to adequate hardware and software and b) their teachers
have not been adequately prepared.” (Zhao & Conway, 2001) So even
though several people know that technology will enhance student learning, the
problem is that not EVERY school in America has the money to pay for the
amazing technologies for the students. And if the schools do have access for the funding, their teachers are uneducated
about the technology and either do not use it, or they are not engaging the
students. The State is giving districts money, schools can get grants to pay
for technology, but in the end, if the teachers do not have the training to
incorporate the technology correctly into their instruction, then the technology
is pointless and a waste of money. It is great that the State Government, and
even the Federal Government, care about the schools getting access to the
technology, but realistically not every school is going to be able to afford
the technology, AND the Government should focus more on the training the
teachers have to do. Let’s start with educating our educators with
informational and hands-on professional development workshops, and then move on
to funding the technologies!
Zhao, Y., &
Conway, P. (2001). What’s In, What’s Out-An Analysis of State Educational Technology
Plans. The Teachers College Record. Retrieved from
http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=10717
