It's time to seriously think about what is important for education....and it's not artificial turf in my book.

As a parent of two Batavia High School graduates, a resident and a tax payer, I of course want "our" public schools and education to be the best, which I always felt they were. How could our beautiful schools, gorgeous theater, huge field house, terrific teachers..... do anything but provide an excellent education. Then recently I heard news of a "virtual" charter school (K12) being discussed for the area. I decided to check it out and see if I wanted some of my tax dollars going to K12 instead of our existing public schools.

I had not heard of a "virtual" school before, but a few years ago, someone introduced me to computer based education and said I could see what it was all about (on my "computer" on the "internet") at KhanAcademy.org. When I checked out the website, I learned how amazing educational videos could be. This young man, Sal Khan, has developed over 3,000 computer based education videos which are all offered free on You Tube. As I watched the videos, I realized how incredible they were, and thought, what fantastic education tools to take advantage of in our public schools ....and they're FREE. (Now that's a too good to be true). Computer based, totally interactive,  extremely informative and basically fun educational videos. How could the Techy kids of today with their computers, laptops, tablets, iPads, Ipods, smart phones WII, email, texting...(I'm sure there are more) not enjoy this way of learning. I became curious as to how our schools were using technology in education. So I decided to check it out with some of my friend's children .

First I interviewed a Batavia middle school student. I asked him if the school was using any kind of interactive educational videos? He didn't understand what I meant, so I explained they were video lessons you watch on your "school issued computer"..... Before I could finish, he said "What computers?". I'm sure there was a very puzzled look on my face when I inquired "What do you mean 'what computers'?".  He replied "We don't have student computers in the classrooms". I couldn't believe my ears and was appalled that a Middle School (I thought was a state of the art) in this day and age, in this community, and with the property taxes I pay had no computers in the classrooms. I decided to check with a high school student and get the answers to my questions there. Surely they were using technology in education.

This particular HS student I interviewed was involved in Robotics. I was so excited our schools offered a program like that, learning math, science, technology, team work....until I learned..... the schools had nothing to do with robotics. They weren't even providing an area at the school to do it. Seriously? Couldn't that huge field house have sacrificed a little space for education. My first question was WHY ISN'T robotics part of our schools curriculum? He said he didn't know. My thoughts went to all the money we must spend on athletic uniforms, busing, athletic fields, tennis courts, gymnasiums, awards ceremonies.... for our athletes at this "educational" facility. There is something very wrong here. Thank you to those wonderful parents who volunteer their free time and the corporations who help fund some of the expense for this educational robotics program.

Needless to say I was very upset. But it didn't stop there. When I asked the question about the educational videos, I learned that our state of the art High School had NO computers in the classrooms either (except maybe the teacher's, which sounds like it's used as a high-tech "overhead"). REALLY?!! I couldn't believe it and had to ask again...You mean you have "no" computers for the students to use in the classrooms? No laptops...tablets....nothing for students to use for research/learning...? "No" again. Originally I thought the schools maybe just didn't know how to use technology to teach; never in a million years did I think they didn't even have the technology. I asked if the teacher ever Googles anything on her computer. After taking some time to think, he answered "...No". My chin hit the floor, and my blood pressure hit the ceiling.

When I can't figure something out, my adult children say "Just Google it"...and I do and with a little research I get my answer. When I ask them how on earth they figured something out...the answer is... Googled it! When my son went to India for 6 weeks, he said to look on Google Earth to see where he was; he would be waving. My daughter is going to Japan and is not sure what the weather will be like .....I think you get my point. And we have NO COMPUTERS in the classrooms. WHY?

So, here is how I see it. We have a government monopoly that has NO competition to keep it state-of-the-art and truly doesn't seem to care about the education of our children. We put on a good show from the outside...beautiful schools, big Field House, Gorgeous New Theater, and I've heard talk lately of Artificial Turf and Field improvements at a cost of $13,000,000.00 ...yes, that's right, 6 zeros, for which no funding has been secured. (Unbelievable when most turf projects I have seen range between 400 thousand and ONE million).... Not to be a broken record; NO COMPUTERS. Think of how many computers and teachers we could get with 13 million.

Whosever deciding on the curriculum, how it is taught and where our money for education goes needs to get with the program. The purpose of school is to educate our children for their futures. Technology is the future of teaching and the future for our students, and the Charters know it. They have whole curriculums developed around technology which are interactive and fun. Our public schools are teaching in the dark ages and NOT at the fault of our teachers. We better do something soon, or our public education system will go the way of the dinosaurs...and those horrible charters, corporations and CEOs will be rolling in $$$.

Our children deserve better, and not just the athletes. Maybe it is time to look at the virtual school!?