Have you considered appealing to the state for help? As parents you are their constituents and they should listen. If it’s money they need for implementing tech, help them apply for grants. Maybe there are other districts in the state that are like yours but are using tech in their schools/district. Your district could take a page from their book. Or at least get a fire lit under their you-know-what.

I can imagine you’re frustrated. Don’t give up!

It’s very clear that you sincerely and passionately believe in the value of technology in education, and that your interests extend well beyond the care and development of your own children, which is great. The unfortunate reality however around what you have described can, I think, be summarized as follows (pardon the obvious):

It’s just not as important to them as it is to you.

I recently wrote about this very subject, here, on my blog, in a post called “How’s your alignment?” http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=4995. Although the focus is different, the essential dialog is the same, to wit: what do you do when your organization doesn’t have the same priorities you do?

I’m not sure how much it will help, but I wanted to share in case it did.

I’ll close with this thought. Your choices from here on out are to:

A) keep the conversation alive; do whatever it takes to keep the issues in front of your district decisionmakers (in a non-threatening, ever-helpful sort of way);

B) accept the status quo will never change and try not to let it bother you too much;

C) move.

Hate to be so pedantic, but it’s really that simple. What’s not so simple is dealing with the people in your community, some in the school administration, and some outside it, to generate support for your ideas.

Good luck to you!

-kj-

p.s. I hope you choose Option A!
—–
“No one, not even a farmer, works as hard as a caring teacher, but there is nothing lazier than an uncaring one.” – Tom Moore

Kevin Jarrett
Technology Facilitator, K-4
Northfield Community School
Northfield, NJ USA