Community Efforts to Address School Technology Needs:
A Newspaper Columnist's Thoughts and Actions

Tim Chavez
Nashville, TN, United States

Seven months ago, I thought the solution to closing the digital divide in more impoverished schools was simple: Get citizens, businesses, and corporations to donate their used computers as they upgrade. These folks would love the tax write-off and would feel warm and fuzzy about putting their technology in the hands of children.

Not so fast, Pentium breath. Getting technology into schools is much more complicated and frustrating, particularly if the equipment is used. But, with community support rallied through my newspaper column, a group of us from diverse backgrounds have been able to overcome obstacles in three metropolitan Nashville schools so far. And now we've attracted a local chapter of the GE Elfun Society to magnify our reach. These truly are exciting times.

First, let me provide a little depressing background about what got us involved. Nashville is a city that markets itself as the “Athens of the South” because of the number of colleges and universities in the area. But its public elementary and secondary schools struggle for just the basics. It goes without saying that the school system doesn't have much of a technology budget to purchase the kind of equipment most of us depend on in our professions. Except for a few pockets of prosperity and vision, the rest of Tennessee is not any better.

Eight years ago, state lawmakers began a noble program to bring the 21st century into classrooms in the form of computers. And they did it. But the state failed to budget money for replacements or repair. In the storage areas of many Tennessee classrooms, there are now a lot of technological dinosaurs gathering dust. It's one of the saddest sights I've seen. Individual schools in Nashville have only their own ingenuity to help them get “extras.” New computers fit in that category.

Some schools have well-funded and well-directed parent-teacher organizations (PTOs) that help to close the digital divide. These schools have computers in classrooms with Internet hookups and plenty of CD-ROMs. Then there are the schools that exist in a fiscal no-man's land. Their PTOs raise just enough money to keep teachers in copier paper and the fax machine working. And many of these schools have been caught unprepared for the growing immigrant population that's creating overwhelming needs overnight. There's not a cent to spare.

That's the kind of school I came across seven months ago. Apollo Middle School is named after the United States' successful space exploration program that greatly accelerated the evolution of computer technology. Ironically, the many Latino students at the school have been left out of the technological revolution sweeping American living rooms and workplaces. A recent Los Angeles Times article about the wealth of Silicon Valley noted that increases in wages for Hispanic cleaning crews there have not kept pace with the meteoric rise in techno-profits. Latinos must get on the operating side of the computer to make big money and raise their quality of life.

That's what we've been trying to promote at Apollo. By marketing this need through my column, our campaign to close the digital divide succeeded in collecting more than 130 computers from readers, the state's Republican Party, a small business, and a Nashville utility company. We also collected three fax machines and 500 CD-ROMs of encyclopedias and other information.

All those who donated were overjoyed to have found a new home for equipment that had been gathering dust and taking up space. But several of the givers said they had offered their used computers to Nashville schools in the past, and had been rebuffed. Many school districts and teachers apparently balk at receiving such equipment. A lot of teachers and district staff seem to be intimidated by technology. Nashville even has one school board member whose personal Web site cautions about the use of computers in the classroom. He says too many people view computers as a magic pill to correct all education ills. What a bunch of head-in-the-sand hogwash! But that kind of thinking prevails in a lot of school districts.

Most donated computers are 486s without CD-ROM capability. Schools want to be able to use CD-ROMs, but these computers don't have enough power to drive a CD-ROM reader. Even if they did, the schools often don't have any money to pay for the simplest of upgrades. Remember, they're just managing to keep the copier going and to provide teachers with a maximum allotment of 400 sheets of paper a month. And with school staff overwhelmed by class sizes and the extent of remedial help students need, there isn't any free time for marketing and fundraising.

And then there are compatibility complaints. Donated Macintosh computers are incompatible with other hardware in the school. Or donated Windows-based machines are incompatible with the Macintosh computers already in place.

But most of the time, the schools and school district say they don't have the expertise to get the used equipment up and running, ready to meet classroom needs. And they don't want to get stuck with junk. It seems too many folks use schools as a dumping ground. So they say no, rather than deciding to explore the possibilities of used technology.

At Apollo Middle School, our volunteer coalition did not target the whole school for technology. We felt that would water down our impact. We went where we saw the greatest need: the school's English-language program for immigrant students. One teacher was trying to instruct five classes of 20 students. Some spoke no English at all. Others spoke some. But all needed one-to-one help, which was an impossibility. Besides the language program, these students were required to be in mainstream classes for math, science, and social studies. The teachers in these classes, speaking in rapid-fire English, would not slow down for them. So they were falling hopelessly behind.

Since the school district was not going to provide more staff, we proposed that computers with English-language software be used in the language classroom to extend the teacher's reach. She enthusiastically agreed. But she was not going to have the time to make it happen. The volunteer math tutor in her classroom owned his own small computer business. But he only wanted machines with Pentium processors inside.

Then my columns struck pay dirt. An engineer who had retired from General Electric volunteered his time. He helped keep the computers going and upgraded their capabilities so that they could run CD-ROMs. We set up a makeshift computer lab. We purchased and started using Rosetta Stone English-language software. A social studies teacher in an adjacent classroom started offering the students use of her computers. Children who once had to wait for a teacher to get to them now only had to click the button on a mouse to be productive until the teacher was able to help. And the computer lesson could be repeated as often as needed.

Then the retired engineer did us the biggest favor possible. He put us in contact with his GE buddies in the local chapter of GE Elfun. We submitted a plan to the Elfun chapter to network our computer lab, upgrade all the machines, and replace the carpet and ceiling tiles. And the Elfun chapter did it. From my end, I raised $6,000 to meet all software demands for the computer lab. Elfun pitched in another $5,000 to meet hardware demands, in addition to the Elfun volunteers' contributing time and expertise. Through our contacts, we had access to sources of capital not available to the school -- one Elfun member even had a father in the carpet business who installed our new floor covering for free. And I made sure Elfun got lots of publicity through my column to make the employer of its members happy.

Now we're working with Elfun to create computer labs in a middle school and high school, and we've collected used technology to outfit those labs. An official with GE Medical Systems has offered to donate used computers for other schools in need we come across. Elfun members are applying for a US$25,000 grant from the corporation to bring new technology and software to an elementary school that serves more than 100 immigrant children. And those retired and active engineers from GE are sticking around as our technical support. They'll be offering “Computer 101” classes to teachers to show them how to make computers part of the curriculum and to overcome their sense of intimidation.

That's great, because technology must be more than a toy. Our timing has been good. In July, Alan Greenspan, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, told the nation's governors that “the heyday when a high school or college education would serve a graduate for a lifetime is gone. Today's recipients of diplomas expect to have many jobs and to use a wide range of skills over their working lives.... Incorporating new technologies into the educational process...must involve more than simply wiring the classroom.” Part of this effort should include greater emphasis on providing teachers with the technological skills they will need to teach their students how to cope in cyberspace, the Associated Press reported.

Hey, Mr. Chairman, we've heard you. We're doing that and more with our project to close the digital divide, and we're doing it with schools and students who otherwise would not have access to such technology. And no tax dollars are involved. We're also excited that computer experience is being offered to immigrant students. Instead of pursuing careers on the cleaning side of the Silicon Valley economy, these students can now be steered to the programming and development side, where higher wages and a better standard of living reside.

Yet schools and school districts most threatened by the breadth of the digital divide lack confidence to reach out for help in bridging it. They fear more work being created for them with used technology -- which is mostly what's available. Used technology has worked for us in our campaign. But it has taken a lot of volunteer technical support to make it happen.

Another problem is that school districts most in need do the poorest job of marketing themselves to potential donors. I've found that people and businesses really do want to help in the places and programs where their donations can do the most good. They don't care what color or ethnicity the students happen to be. Still, once donations have been made, schools and school districts fail to provide the simplest of courtesies. That kills the possibility of long-term relationships taking root. Meaningful thank yous, invitations to help and become involved beyond simply providing the equipment, and creation of a sense of importance and partnership in the donor are important.

Metro Nashville is a tragic case. The city did its damnedest to bring professional sports here with a sophisticated marketing campaign. But too often, it can't say boo for its children. In the case of our project, we were not able to get the school district interested, even though we had collected more than 130 computers. The school principal never introduced himself to me. When GE Elfun was preparing to work in the school to upgrade the computer lab, the school district wanted to charge them for opening up the building on a Saturday. I wrote a column about this embarrassment, and now the district has stepped forward with basic manners. The new principal has made himself available -- and more. But I worry about how many more potential donors have been turned off by their public school districts -- be it in Nashville or other parts of the nation.

Closing the digital divide in this country's schools is going to take an unprecedented community partnership such as the one we've set up at Apollo Middle School. We can make used, older technology into what's needed to open new horizons for students. But schools and school districts must break bad habits and set aside old prejudices to welcome this technology into their classrooms as a help, not another burden.