DOE Officials Prefer Technology Over Buildings In Long-Term Budget
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On Tuesday, Department of Education officials told a City Council hearing how they want to use money for long-term projects, but some council members did not like what they heard. NY1's Education reporter Lindsey Christ filed the following report. The Education Department's revised 5-year capital plan boils down to a simple trend -- spend less on bricks and mortar and more on wires and modems.
But as student enrollment continues to rise and the teaching force continues to shrink, some City Council members questioned at a Tuesday hearing whether technology should be the priority.
"If students don't have a desk to sit at, how will they benefit from wireless Internet access?" said Manhattan Councilman Robert Jackson, the chair of the City Council Education Committee.
Council members said many of their districts need more classrooms. Out of the 30,000 new school seats scheduled to be built by 2014, the DOE says it can no longer afford 1,500 of them. That led to heated exchanges.
Bronx Councilman Jimmy Vacca: How much longer do we have to wait for the 318 seats that have been designated to us? Where are we?
Deputy Schools Chancellor Kathleen Grimm: Actually, those seats have been pushed out to the next plan.
Vacca: The next plan? It doesn't.... To the next plan, when? When is the next plan?
Grimm: In three years.
Kindergarten waitlists have grown. For the upcoming school year, 155 schools have waitlists for next year, compared with 28 schools in 2009. That is 3,193 children, up from 474.
While saying they need to cut back on construction, school officials want to increase the budget for technology by $177 million.
"We need to consider technology a basic element of public education. Electronic content and digital interactivity are everywhere, except in most public school classrooms," said Deputy Schools Chancellor Kathleen Grimm.
The deputy chancellor said that she thinks in the 21st century technology is as basic a requirement as desks and chairs, but Jackson was not so sure.
"Technology is just a tool in the learning process," said the councilman.
The City Council will vote on the changes to the capital plan in June. At the same time, the council will be working on the annual operating budget. They will try to figure out if there's enough money to keep even some of the teachers the DOE says will have to go.