Posted by Rene Hohls
This article on the recent bills signed into law in California expanding broadband service is a reminder to us all that we may be moving towards a digital world and digital services in libraries, but the virtual world is not accessible to everyone. Not yet anyway. No matter where you stand in politics or your views on government involvement with access to information in our society and our schools, it is impossible to ignore the fact that in many states, even tech-savvy California, there are still millions of people who cannot access information on the Internet.
This article mentions students specifically as the beneficiaries of the newly expanded broadband services and potential grant-funded digital access, but much of what is available to students will depend on the school they attend and the district funding decisions made by the local school board. The distance between the ideal learning commons we discuss in this class and the actual learning environment in which millions of students across the country operate is vast.
It is important for us as the gatekeepers of information, and in most cases the technological access to that information, to recognize where students and teachers are coming from and try to always meet them where they are. And if they are in Mendocino County, it will be a physical learning commons - not a virtual one. Not yet anyway.
You are so right, Rene. The have and have-not divide remains.
ReplyDeleteYes the divide continues - and in some areas it is upside down! Because of the new LCFF calculations, some schools receiving Title I funding will be eligible for more money (which of course they need) and additional money based on student population (which they need). However, many of the schools in the middle (middle-class, middle performing, middle need, middle everything) will actually get LESS money because they do not have enough "special need" students and not enough "poverty" as it will be measured. These are schools with some support from parents, but not enough to make major planning or development decisions in connection with the school site budgets.
ReplyDeleteFor more info on the LCFF, the CDE link is: http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/
For many small districts or districts on the edge of affluence but not poor enough, the new funding formula pushes them out of the "almost have's" and into the "used to haves." It's a tough call - the ideal is that every student has the SAME advantages and opportunities, highly trained teachers and state-of-the-art facilities and technology. The reality is that each school is a country unto itself, waiting for the annual funds which shift all the time and fluctuate wildly. It should come as no surprise to any of us that school libraries also vary widely across the spectrum of quality and services as well.