Schools ask parents to pay up before kids log on

[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: William M. Welch]
The Fullerton (CA) public school system is pushing the frontiers of computer technology in the classroom with a program that puts a laptop computer into the backpacks of children as early as first grade. It is pushing the boundaries of financing, too, by asking parents to pay $500 a year for three years so each of more than 2,000 elementary and middle school children can have their own Apple iBook G4 laptop. An increasing number of school systems are using computers in the core curriculum of early grades. Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, a non-profit group in Washington, says one laptop per student is the hottest trend in educational computing. But asking parents to pay for it isn't. The Fullerton program, at four of 20 district schools, has created a storm of controversy for the school system and its superintendent, Cameron McCune. It also has raised broader questions about how far public schools here and elsewhere can go in using costly technology in the face of tight school budgets and limited funding. Some parents worry that whatever its educational benefits, the program has created an expensive burden for struggling families and has forged new divisions in the public schools. Some parents say the financial expectations and price tag violate California's constitutional guarantee of a free public education -- a principle also in other state constitutions. The parents are threatening a lawsuit and have enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060103/a_laptops03.art.htm