Why is Klein ISD wanting to give laptops to all the Klein ISD students, and yet…
NOT offering more dual-credit coursework on campus to our Klein Oak students, so that they can enter college with at least two years worth of college credits? This would really help out parents & students as colleges are raising tuition rates almost yearly and student loans are becoming harder than ever to find. Other districts in Texas have offered this to their students with great success, and yet Klein doesn’t.
NOT offering online instant access to our children’s daily attendance, daily test grades, major test grades, upcoming major tests & projects, GPA (grade point average) & class rank. Surrounding districts such as Humble, Tomball, and Spring, as well as many others in Texas, have given this ability to their parents for many years, and yet Klein still doesn’t. This puts our students at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to applying for colleges in Texas, which use the Top 10% rule as the gold standard for admissions policies.
NOT allowing teachers to utilize an educational device by keeping one laptop per child in their classrooms, rather than force each child to carry one from class to class? This would allow each student the use of a laptop while in class and then leave it there when class is ended. The teacher would be responsible for the laptops usage in their classroom. If students have a need to bring a laptop home, they could check one out in a similar fashion as library books are checked out today. Additionally, the school network could be securitized in a manner to facilitate access from any computer. Mandating students take these expensive devices home every night is unnecessary and costly.
NOT allowing our students to take Engineering as a science course, participate in any science fairs or the Science Olympiad? In mid-2007, the State Board of Education indicated that Texas high schools could offer a course in Engineering for credit as one of the four science course credits now required for graduation. Yet, Klein Oak doesn’t offer it. Ask your child’s science teacher why our schools don’t participate in science fairs; I think you may be very shocked to hear the answer given. I highly encourage to go online and read in its’ entirety the following short article written about the dire need to get more of our students interested in math & science: http://www.engr.utexas.edu/spotlights/2008/highschool/
NOT worried more about educational “equity” and “parity” the appearance of the school buildings? During this entire bond process, we’ve heard some of the Klein High parents crow about how their “flagship” Klein High will now look better than all the rest of the high schools, and we’ve heard Dr. Cain say that he “just thinks it’s time” to re-build Klein High, a school just barely 40 years old.
YET, a study just published by Children at Risk, ranked Klein Oak in the third tier (#74), while Klein High was ranked in the first tier, (#18). In reading the report at http://www.childrenatrisk.org/ it’s very eye-opening to find that Klein Oak is only graduating about 50% of their students under the Recommended High School Plan or Distinguished Plan, while Klein High, Klein Collins and Klein Forest are graduating over 70% of their students under those plans.
YET, the only relief Klein Oak gets under the proposed bond is to add a wing onto an already overcrowded school? With our current freshmen class at almost 1,000 students, our Klein Oak could become a school with 4,000 students one day very soon, and with current educational studies saying that any high school over 2,000 students experiences more truancy and more drop-outs, what will the future look like at Klein Oak? Obviously, whatever shape the buildings are in at Klein High, it hasn’t hurt their graduation rates or SAT scores. Let’s talk about educational “equity” and graduation rate “parity” for a change.
In conclusion, in the rush to force these laptops/tablet computers into the hands of all our students, are we ignoring the more basic needs and the fundamental foundations necessary to create successful students? Is the tried and true approach of teachers using books and blackboards and sponsoring science fairs so old-fashioned and out of place that it needs to be replaced by an unproven approach of laptops for all? There are countless studies available that would suggest otherwise. In our quest to force all of our schoolchildren to use laptops, are we ignoring proven methods that work just as well, for a lot less money? Maybe it’s time to re-examine our priorities and quit trying to impress everyone with all our fancy new gadgets and our super-sized schools and instead get back to impressing them with our incredibly high graduation rates and SAT scores and admissions into the best colleges in the nation instead. I’d really love to see that happen someday in Klein ISD, and I don’t think "laptops for all" is the way to get there. Vote NO on May 10th to the proposed Klein ISD school bond!
