Hurrah for Betsy
Dennis Mosebey, Emporia
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Hurrah for Betsy! She summed it up well at least for me. Now things like this for the privately funded schools who struggle are probably merited, such as the Sacred Heart Mexican Supper and other things like that. But for the public schools, I agree wholeheartedly with Betsy. It is now way overdone.
When I was young we sold magazines and the first couple of times it was alright. I picked out the prize I would like and then just sold enough for that but my senior year we were down on money for our class trip and we had laid out tons of money the previous year for the Junior-Senior prom where I had dared to be audacious enough to suggest we open it up to Freshmen and Sophomore students and also charge for admittance. This was heresy. So my senior year I simply refused to sell the product. I figured well if they wanted to say I could not go on the trip, so be it. New York was not high on my list of places to go. I would sooner spend a week at Gettysburg only sixty miles away anyhow.
Well everyone else sold them but me and we had the money for the trip and I did not feel the least bit guilty going either. No one seemed to mind.
So USD 253, take heed of Betsy’s article in the September 19 and 20 edition of the Gazette. My hat is off to her. Another heretic seems to exist.
Dennis Mosebey
Emporia
karmadog (anonymous) says...
Mr. Mosebey,
It would be nice if it were so simple. Here are some things you fail to take into account. Betsy references that her district receives $7,500 per pupil. She lives in a moderately well funded area of the country. I don't believe her children are in a district where over 60% of the kids qualify for free or reduced lunches. According to the Emporia Gazette, April 16, 2008, the 2009-2010 per pupil funding for USD253 is $4,492. BIG difference. Additionally, Betsy is referencing money for things that are "extras" or as my mom would have said, "wants." What our kids in Emporia are fund-raising for are things that are "needs." BIG difference. Mr. Mosebey are you willing to pay enough additional property taxes for our students to be funded at the $7,500 rate or more? At least our students and families and PTOs are working to better the schools and not "free-loading" trips off the backs of others as your comments suggest. With such a philosophy, I doubt you'd want your property taxes to go up to the needed amount to properly fund our schools. I'd suggest you buy a magazine from the neighbor kid next time you have a chance.
September 22, 2009 at 3:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
giggles (anonymous) says...
Not sure how badly our kids NEED smartboards, but that is what my children's school was raising money for in this last fund raiser.
September 22, 2009 at 3:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AverageCitizen2 (anonymous) says...
My daughter goes to the Emporia Middle School and 3 of her teachers just got smartboards. I muttered something about a waste of tax dollars. Glad to hear it wasn't tax money.
September 22, 2009 at 4:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Joe_Strummer (anonymous) says...
No....items like smartboards are not absolute necessities. That said, I want my child taught in a district that tries to integrate technology and inovation into the classroom. They are a great tool for the teachers.
Fundraisers are way over done. No argument there. They are a necessary evil in this day and age though.
September 22, 2009 at 4:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Through the use of "smart boards," the teacher can relay information from her own desktop to the entire class. This replaces the need for everyone to have their own computer and be on the same page all at the same time. The Net is full of wonderful teaching/learning tools, and in the right hands, a smart board can be extremely valuable.
When I was teaching, I got my smart board by applying for (and receiving) a grant because they were brand new and I was definitely interested in the technology. I used it all the time and got miles of use from it. One of my own uses was to record and print out board notes for those who had been absent. The list of uses goes on and on.
My daughter tells me that the company she works for uses smart boards in all of its meeting rooms. Why shouldn't our Emporia kids learn about and be familiar with this new technology that they may one day see and get to use in their grown up world?
September 22, 2009 at 4:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
AverageCitizen2:
As I understood from our school's PTO meeting, these smartboards became available to school districts through a government grant from Pres. Obama's administration. The districts were able to purchase them at a steep discount as a result of that grant and then the individual schools can use Tech budgets to purchase them and ask PTO's to supplement what that budget doesn't cover of the desired number of boards. So there is, actually quite a bit of tax money involved.
Disclaimer: I am not making any pro or con statement, only informational.
September 22, 2009 at 8:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodjoss (anonymous) says...
Well, Betsy was jaded, that's for sure. Wouldn't it be nice if our schools could operate with an unlimited, 'offline' budget and the Pentagon had to have bake sales to support their new $52,000,000.00 air superiority strike fighter.
Smart boards aren't the be-all, end-all... that's for sure. I was promised everything Observation said, and it doesn't fly. I don't have the full-blown Smartboard like the schools are getting, mine is a tablet that works with my projector. (I have a 800X600 projector so my on-screen 'notes' are kind of like a king-sized chisel marker on a post-it. don't work. period.)
I do know the Smartboard 'smarts' work best with Smart Technologies canned curriculum. Otherwise - you'll have 10 times the work to get your materials to work with the 'smart' of the smartboard.
If nothing else - they're nice projectors and goodness knows the rooms need those.
September 22, 2009 at 10:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )