Geraldine Miller Texas State Board of Education
In the final months of the 81st Legislature legislators approved a bill allowing school districts to use textbook funding to buy laptops. While there is little value in arguing the merits of using technology to improve the way we teach our students we must mindfully plan how to implement this law to avoid the inclination to throw out our content-based system in favor of the latest fad.
The State Board of Education has worked for three decades to integrate technology into Texas public schools without sacrificing equity adequacy or quality. In 1983 it created a state curriculum and test that aligned instructional content and insured its factual accuracy for students and teachers. That review process has been deemed one of the best in the nation.
Then in 1988 the board drew up its first Long Range Plan for Technology. Its purpose was to define the states plan to move from a content-based system to a technology-based system in order to enhance student learning and advance school administration. The result: a carefully designed outline that became a model for the rest of the country.
Every few years the plan has been updated to address various unforeseen changes in education and technology.
The board recognized long ago that some subjects lend themselves to technology while others are better served in print. For example computer graphics can bring a geography map to life. The boards challenge has been to determine when to use technology in favor of print materials.
In using multiple sources to cover a subject the board must guarantee that every student has the opportunity to learn all elements of the required curriculum for that subject. This will be an ever-evolving process that likely will go on as long as the board is in place.
Many questions remain about how to implement this legislation into the current Long Range Plan for Technology. As the State Board of Education has successfully moved Texas forward with its
complex review process so should it continue this practice with the laptop legislation.
Students should not be short-changed on content. We must assure equity in instruction. As more instructional products become available in digital formats revisions occur and electronic updates should be readily available as well.
In addition board members must remain careful stewards of the Permanent School Fund which was created to ensure that every Texas student has the most basic classroom resources. The fund generates revenue from oil and gas income on state-owned land so funding for textbooks is not dependent on varying tax bases from district to district. Just by the way it was set up the PSF builds equity into Texas school system.
The state Constitution mandates that money from the school fund can only be used to buy content and the Board has ardently fought to keep that money from paying for computer hardware devices that are highly expensive and become outdated in a matter of years. To use the school fund in this way would risk depleting it which would jeopardize the future of our childrens education.
As Texas public schools enter the digital age the board remains committed to improving the delivery of instructional materials. Lets make sure we are mindful of how we bring technology to our schools while safeguarding one of our most important financial resources the Permanent School Fund.
Tincy Miller represents Dist. 12 on the Texas State Board of Education. A Member since 1984 she was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to serve as Chair from 2003-2007.
