Originally posted by mom2m&a:
So by raptordad saying that it's wasting money to buy technology equipment for schools, he's saying I wasted my time and effort for five years. My poit was you can't generalize about these things.

Raptordad maybe correct to a degree- (but the $$ down the drain is incorrect) some do look at PTA/PTO printer/ computer gifts but most school here in LAUSD wouldnt have 'em if parents/PTA/PTO didnt supply 'em

Originally posted by mom2m&a:
Our school situation in California is very different than many parts of the country. So lease, even if they raised our taxes, it wouldn't make any difference. Local governments in California don't get to keep locally collected taxes for schools. All money goes up to Sacramento and Arnold and his folks get to decide how much comes back down to us. All school districts get the same amount per student, the only difference is that some get more federal money than others depending on how poor they are. So if you are from a wealthy area the taxes you pay subsidize the poorer school districts and you don't get to keep the excess to spend yourself.

That's not exactly true- I too live in CA- depending on where you live- the locals do keep the taxes- (LA county is different it goes to downtown not the local municipalities ie the Valley) the problem especially in LAUSD is it (the school district IS BIGGER than all but 8 states population)- the school districts do a crapy job of tech planning and implementation- especially LAUSD (I agree with your Tech assessment- not that it Arnolds fault (he has nothing to do with how CA's (especially LA counties) stupid tax and school sytem was setup- it is to some degree those idiots in Sacramento's fault, though)

IBM, Countrywide, techsoup, Microsoft, Dell, (Former LA Mayor) Riordian Foundation all have good computer programs for schools/nonprofits- try getting computers/ grants with them (also I've seen PTA/PTO help pay for a Tech Techer/ Coordinator at some LAUSD schools because the IT from LAUSD suxx- Its (LAUSD Tech plan is 695 pg's of unimplementable gibberish)

I thought about my previous reply and I think the reason this touched a nerve for me is that I have spent the better part of the last five years raising money and planning the technology upgrades at our school - to the tune of over $100,000. So by raptordad saying that it's wasting money to buy technology equipment for schools, he's saying I wasted my time and effort for five years. My poit was you can't generalize about these things.

I was telling a friend about this discussion yesterday and she replied that raptordad "must live in Wisconsin or something". Our school situation in California is very different than many parts of the country. So lease, even if they raised our taxes, it wouldn't make any difference. Local governments in California don't get to keep locally collected taxes for schools. All money goes up to Sacramento and Arnold and his folks get to decide how much comes back down to us. All school districts get the same amount per student, the only difference is that some get more federal money than others depending on how poor they are. So if you are from a wealthy area the taxes you pay subsidize the poorer school districts and you don't get to keep the excess to spend yourself.

This is way off-topic, but I wanted to point out why I was so sensitive about this topic.

many schools also lease their technology equipment so they basically have budgeted for the guaranteed keeping up with technoligy

I don't think rap was off line, for those districts who have technology in their budget he is absoluty correct in what he is saying....

All schools are different with different challenges.....hang in there, with determination you will meet your goals.....Or may see a tax hike to pay for that technology that is so very important

Raptordad - you obviously don't live in California. We have had NO technology spending by our district (except for brand new schools) in the whole time my kids have been in school - for the last seven years. And they don't plan to do it either. The poorer schools who get Title I money sometimes have extras to buy their own, but otherwise for schools in our area of our district it's either cut an employee and use that money to buy "things" (including janitorial supplies and toilet paper) or get help from the PTO. If we had not bought computer equipment for our school many would not have a computer in the classroom or they would be using 10-year-old computers. If you think I'm exagerating, I'll be glad to send you our budget.

You hit a sore button with me, so sorry if I cam across strong. But you just can't generalize about situations like this. Many school districts in many parts of our state and across the country are in the same sad situation we are.

Gifts are gifts. They are not your responsibility to replace and they are also not your property to determine if they stay in your building or not. Give it and walk away.

As to the plants, where are the teachers at your schools? If you don't have a grounds crew, then they can take it on as a class project. We call our areas "Artscapes" and different classes are responsible for upkeep of different areas. We use perrenials that, let's face it, we all have tons in our yards that need to be split out.

One caviat on technology. Spending money on printers/computers I think is money down the drain. Check your district's technology policy and replacement cycle. When a district buys new equipment they aren't going to buy 25 new just like everyone else, but rather subtract the PTO purchases and just be 20 or whatever to equal what is at other schools.

We have bought a lot of technology equipment for our school over the last few years. For big items, we give the money to the school so they can buy it through the school district purchasing department. That way if there's a problem the equipment is covered by the school's IT department and they have the responsibility to fix it. We have run into problems in the past with printer cartridges. The teachers seem to think that it is our responsibility to pay for them. We give each teacher up to $150 each year to pay for supplies (with receipts) and I feel they should use that money to pay for things like printer cartridges.

A couple of years ago we bought a new copier for the school, but we maintain and pay for the maintenance contract. I always wonder what will happen in a few years when all of us old-timers are gone and they don't remember who was supposed to pay for what.