Educators urged to invest in technology for schools

Montana school kids will pass or fail in today’s computer world
depending on the state’s willingness to pay for technology, a
consultant told educators Thursday.

By TOM LUTEY Chronicle Staff Writer

"Without the education that students need, there are no jobs,
there are no opportunities," said Phil Geiger, who is credited with
creating an educational computer network for Arizona.

Arizona and Montana have similarly low per capita incomes and a
bumper crop of isolated rural schools, Geiger told educators
gathered at Montana State University for a leadership conference.
The Treasure State might want to follow Arizona’s lead in
connecting schools via the Internet.

Schools that network save money by sharing education material,
deliver high quality education to more areas and give kids the skills
to live in a cybercivilization, Geiger said.

The networking topic was just one of several items discussed at
the meetings hosted by U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. And the
issue isn’t new to Montana, said Linda McCulloch, state
superintendent of public instruction.

"Last winter the (state) Department of Administration came to us
with a proposal to do a statewide education networking system
with K-12," McCulloch said. "In a nutshell, it probably does make
sense. I just wish it had been suggested 10 years ago."

For a decade, Montana’s schools have developed their computer
systems separately, said McCulloch, who was contacted at her
office in Helena. When state officials suggested schools ought to
be networked, McCulloch said she had some reservations.

The Administration Department actually wanted to pitch the idea
to the 2003 Legislature, but several questions were unanswered.
No one knew who would fix the network at local schools should
something go haywire. And it wasn’t clear if McCulloch’s Office of
Public Instruction could get all the local school superintendents to
go along with the network in time for the Legislature.

Montana’s conversations about school networking never got
around to the costs. In Arizona, however, the cost of a K-12
computer network was $140 million, roughly one-fifth of Montana’s
total state budget.

State support of technology in schools has never crept above $3
million. The 2001 Legislature set aside $2.9 million for school
computers, but the money was eliminated last week as lawmakers
scrambled to fill a $57 million hole in the state budget.

Geiger encouraged educators to risk the criticism of creating a
school computer network. The reward will come with better
academic performance. Montana is already getting high marks for
high school graduates, the seventh best rate in the country.

"It means you’re doing something right with just a little bit of
services," Geiger said. "Just think what you could do with more."

Tom Lutey is at [email protected]

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