An iPad for under performing students in Georgia-UPDATE

Last week I wrote a post about the fact that the state of Georgia is thinking about purchasing an iPad for some of the under performing students in Georgia.  Unbelievably Georgia officials are still in serious talks and consideration to follow through on this idea. It was a bad idea last week and it hasn’t gotten any better with seven days of age. Webb School in Knoxville, TN is thinking about doing the same thing, however, in that instance I think it’s a great idea.  The difference is that Webb School is a private institution and is charging their students for the computers. If Georgia State Senate President Tommie Williamson wanted to charge those students for the iPads I would be all for it.  Yes, you should charge those under performing students $500 a piece for that computer.  It’s an asset, it will assist them in their education and they get to keep it.  Do students get to keep their textbooks now?  No.  Why should their school required iPad be any different if they don’t pay for it?   Spread the payments out over three years, have a credit system set up where they can work off part of the expenses at their school or have the school system cut the money from some place. Just damn.  The average student in Georgia costs $14,500 a year, the standard of education is not improving and the state is 5 away from being the worst in the nation.  Personally, I’d love to have our tax contributions for our child and either put that toward a private school or have a school system that competes for the better students. Did you hear about the cheating scandal in the DeKalb County School System? The Atlanta Public Schools are also on a nine month probation period. If they fail to meet certain governance standards by that time then their accreditation will be stripped and a diploma from the entire school system would be useless. So after all this news, the state senate wants to spend $500 for those iPads?  That’s the bane of my frustration and I can’t believe that this idea is still being considered without some offsetting budget cuts.  If our government ever starts acting like they’re the ones who fund the magic slush pool they get this money from I’ll be shocked. I’m all for education and keeping our children up with the technology they need to succeed.  However, either require those families to pay for the iPad or show us how you’re going to pay for them.