A major problem discussed in Chapter 3 is the difficulty of incorporating technology into older schools (Gallagher, 2001). Urban schools particularly are difficult to integrate technology. Each school must have a local-area network system (LAN) with in the schools and also be connected to the district-level wide area network (WAN). In urban schools with hundreds of schools in each district this can be difficult to achieve. School systems that have a high amount of students below the poverty line can receive up to 90 percent of government funding towards these technology costs (Gallagher, 2001). This funding does not cover upgrades, repair, equipment, curriculum redesign, or professional development (Gallagher, 2001). In the school I work at it almost seems like this. We have the computers but many teachers do not have the knowledge to use technology in the classrooms. In urban school settings the need for teachers is so high that they are not always the most qualified (Gallagher, 2001). This chapter more specifically explains Chicago Public schools. Many of their schools are so old that they have a very difficult time wiring the buildings using LAN and hooking them up to a WAN (Gallagher, 2001). Chicago Public schools have a Technology Resource Network (TRN) which may seem large with 28-teachers and one-administer however, this is for 765 school buildings (Gallagher, 2001). Technology is a big project to implement into a school district. It takes a lot of time, money, cooperation, and effort.
Gallagher, E. M. (2001). Technology in its place: Technology for urban schools gaps and challenges. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
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Technology integration is a struggle for most of these urban schools. It is much cheaper to ignore the problem than to upgrade such old buildings. To add to the problem, local taxes cannot even cover the basic revenue needed to operate schools' most basic functions. It is sad that our society places more importance on spending in areas other than schools. if not for schools, none of us would be where we are today.
I think for urban schools, there is such a defacit in funds that technology becomes pushed back as a secondary concern. Unlike suburban schools, they probably don't have the support or fund-raising ability to generate additional funds to support the schools or the district.
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