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Head of FCC Proposes Increasing Internet School Fund
Rambo Tribble writes: The commissioners at the FCC are expected to vote, on December 11, on a proposal by Chairman Tom Wheeler to increase the funding for the nation's largest educational technology subsidy program, E-Rate, by 62 percent. The proposal is intended to be paid for by higher fees on phone service. The increased cost is pegged at $1.92 a year, per telephone line. Support for the proposal, or lack thereof, appears to be falling along partisan lines. To quote Wheeler, however, "Almost two-thirds of American schools cannot appropriately connect their students to the 21st century."
You don't even have to say "fuck the children." How about "fuck the athletics program?" I wonder what kind of connectivity that new AstroTurf field could have paid for? Or the new stadium that surrounds it, complete with lighting system that would have been the envy of a minor league sports team just a few years ago. I remember playing in the mud with spectators that had to sit on portable bleachers and games being called because we ran out of daylight.
In reality there's more important things than uber high speed broadband, like student to teacher ratio, but I think most would agree both are more important than a bloody football field that primarily benefits a small percentage of the student population. PE is important -- look at the American obesity rate -- but one can teach healthy exercise habits without needing an eight digit venue for the occasion.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I already pay a small fortune in school tax. Let them find the money for it from there.
Last I checked, my local government school has a 3 meg connection because that's what Comcast gives them for free. They have a three million dollar budget but can't find $3000 a year to upgrade that to a hundred meg.
It could be that after all the teachers' salaries and benefits are paid for they don't have any money left (and considering the reams of copy paper we get home...) or it could be that high-speed internet allows remote teaching which is seen as a threat to union jobs.
I do work for one private school (area towns tuition their kids there) and they paid a lot of money to get fiber brought to their facility.
The incentives are aligned differently.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Teacher's salaries pale in comparison to the administrators salaries. Administrative costs for schools have gone up by thousands of percent over the last 30 years. Where there used to be 1 administrator per every 100 students, there are now sometimes 1 for every 15 in some school districts, more than there are teachers, and the administrators are more highly paid. It is this cost which must be curbed and would free up 2/3 of a school's budget for more appropriate spending. Write your congresscritter.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.