$2 Billion in Technology for NY Schools?

Over the weekend, I found an interesting article about a promise for technology upgrades in New York Schools. The article can be found here. Education Week's article discusses New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal to bring $2 billion dollars worth of new technology to the schools in his state.

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There were two parts of his initiative that I found quite promising. The first part was that he wanted the money to help lessen the technological gap that exists between schools in richer and poorer areas of the state. I am glad that he is trying to give equal opportunities to the children, no matter where they are from or what school district they are in. 

I was also very pleased with the goals that he had set for the initiative. The goals included "increased communication between parents and teachers, increased access for teacher training, and improved skills for students to enter the current labor market." I think that increased communication with parents and teachers could be facilitated not only by teacher access to e-mail, but also the teacher's ability to have a class website to display classroom news. Teacher training could also be facilitated through technology with the use of computer based teaching. Finally, the presence of technology in today's work environment is undeniable. Students should leave school feeling comfortable with and well-versed in such technology in order to be a valuable resource for future employers.

I was very impressed with the proposal by Cuomo. Hopefully he will follow through on such a promise.