An Ever-Widening Chasm

By Children Rising | March 15, 2012

Ipads are still in the news as the enter classrooms.

While some Bay Area schools are receiving money from bonds or parent contributions to purchase this hot technology, schools in Oakland are struggling to get textbooks to all their students. Many computers are becoming obsolete as many Oakland schools (especially middle through high school) do not have the budget for repairs or new technology.

In her article about the widening technology gap, Tammerlin Drummond also explores the growing financial disparity between schools that have a lot of district and parent support and schools that have very little.
Technology is a very visible marker of the difference between the haves and have-nots. Also hinted at within the article are disparities in teacher and staff stability, classroom order, and parent involvement.

The “widening gap,” then, is not just about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer in a financial sense. It is a systematic issue where the advanced have more access to advantage and those without fall further behind.

Yet another reason to follow technology: it serves as an indication–though imperfect and incredibly trendy–of where schools are heading.