Student
First and School Facilities Board
In
1997 the Legislature passed the "Student First" school
facilities funding plan that provides for state funding for new schools
and upgrading existing schools. The legislation also establishes a "School
Facilities Board" that is charged with establishing guidelines
for Capital Expenditure for new and existing school facilities. The
Facilities Board will address only issues pertaining to CAPITAL
EXPENDITURES for school FACILITIES. They will not address Maintenance and
Operating funds (M&O) regarding instruction, teachers and operating
expenses.
The
Facilities Board recently established guidelines requiring one modern,
networked, multi-media computer for every eight students, Internet access
and an internal LAN. The Students First legislation also provides $50
million for soft capital that can be used for software.
We
now need to leverage that investment.
To protect this investment in hardware and infrastructure, Arizona must
also support technical support and professional development. ALTP, the
Arizona Learning Technology Partnership drafted a legislative
proposal that would provide state funding for M&O funds to address
these issues.
Strategic
Planning and Priorities for Technology In Education
Effective
adoption and integration of educational and workplace technologies is not
simply the purchase of technology. It requires the ability to utilize and
maintain the computers and networks, train teachers, develop curriculum
and integrate the software and digital media into the educational process.
ALTP, the Arizona Learning Technology Partnership
engaged in a statewide Strategic Planning process. They
conducted numerous interviews and focus groups throughout the state,
reviewed the research and examined the plans of a number of other states.
Based upon the research and input from educators, parents, students,
legislators, businesses, and economic development organizations, ALTP has
identified the following priorities for the state of Arizona:
-
Vision
-
Technology-Effective
Classrooms
-
Teacher
Training and Professional Development
-
State
and Local Strategic Plans
-
Instructional
Support
-
Technical
Support
-
Technology
Education Standards
-
University
Research
-
Pre-service
Teacher Training
-
Teacher
Incentive Programs
-
Capital
and M&O Funding
-
Center
for Classroom Technology
-
Research
and Evaluation
-
Business
Support
-
Statewide
Stakeholder Organization
