This was just posted in one of the NACOL forums - which would be interesting if pass because it would mean that virtual schools would have to use virtual content, maybe even open source content (see The Open High School of Utah).
Textbooks face ban under e-learning finance bill
Books would be banned from computer curricula
by Mary Jo Pitzl - May. 23, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona RepublicTextbooks would have to be eliminated from classrooms that move to a digital curriculum under legislation that would provide a new way for schools to pay for computers necessary for “e-learning.”
“The modern world has moved beyond textbooks,” said Sen. Barbara Leff, R-Paradise Valley.
Computer-based learning is becoming the norm, she said, and can provide a variety of viewpoints, instead of those in just one textbook.
And, she added, “This is the less-expensive tool than textbooks in the long run.”Leff is the sponsor of an amendment to House Bill 2475, which would allow school districts to ask their voters for approval to issue bonds for computer purchases.
Currently, schools can pay for computers through capital-outlay overrides, but money from those elections flows in equal annual amounts for the length of the override. General-obligation bonds provide all the money up front, to be paid back over the length of the bond.
The amendment received preliminary, but narrow, Senate approval on a voice vote Thursday. It requires that any bond used to purchase computers last only as long as the lifespan of the computer. That is designed to avoid long-term borrowing for a product that might last only a few years.
If a school launches a digital curriculum and provides a computer for every child, textbooks for that subject would be removed in favor of the digital version.
The proposal, added to a bill that deals with disciplinary procedures for school bullies, drew a skeptical reaction from some.
Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, said it could lead to inequities between school districts, as wealthy school districts have a much better chance than those in poorer parts of the state to get their voters to approve a specific bond issue for computers.
“The rising inequities we have in our schools greatly concerns me,” he said.
The amendment allows for more borrowing by school districts, he said, which could lead to bigger bills for taxpayers in those districts.
But Minority Leader Marsha Arzberger, D-Willcox, said the Legislature is not imposing an automatic tax increase on anyone.
“Voters do get to vote for themselves if they want to make this expense,” she said.
Cheuvront said he is not opposed to equipping schools with more computers, but expanded technology should not hinge on whether a district’s taxpayers are wealthy enough to support bond elections. “If this is so important, we should put it in the budget,” he said.
While the senators focused primarily on the financial aspects of the bill and its amendment, Leff said she views this as a way to usher in a new chapter in learning.
“The fact that attracted me the most was the digital learning,” she said after the Senate debate.
“You’d have vast amounts of information available to students at their fingertips.”
Leff said she got “no push-back” from school officials on her proposal to eliminate textbooks if digital-learning programs for a given subject are available. For those subject areas where such e-learning is not available, textbooks would still be allowed.
Digital learning is in its “infancy” in Arizona, said Chris Cummiskey, director of the Government Information Technology Agency.
Bids are being accepted for a pilot program that would use a digital curriculum for middle-school math classes, said Cummiskey, who also is a member of the E-learning Task Force established by the Legislature two years ago.
The Legislature set aside $3 million for the pilot program, which will be launched in 10 schools.
Other schools are already involved in computer-based learning, although the ability to purchase computers in bulk could expand programs much more quickly, said Rep. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa and president of the Mesa Public Schools board.
Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com.
