Computers July 12, 2009, 9:35PM EST

Tech in Schools: Federal Cuts Sow Concern

Educators worry that the long-term burden of tech programs will fall on cash-poor states and districts, but an Obama tech-ed point man says help is on the way

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There's a sense of urgency among the administrators of schools in Elmore County, Ala., who this summer are outfitting 80 middle and high school classrooms with laptops, projectors, and other high-tech gadgets. They want to get their classrooms ready for the fall. But they're also antsy because they don't know how they'll pay for keeping the machines running in the long term.

The upgrades are part of a U.S. program aimed at putting computers and other tech gear in classrooms. But the federal government is paying only part of the up-front costs. Elmore officials have yet to figure out how they'll pay for ongoing expenses that include training teachers how to use the equipment. "This is one-time money," says Davis Brock, director of technology for Elmore County's public schools. "At some point there are going to be recurring costs."

Brock's concern is shared by administrators and teachers around the country who have seen federal funding for classroom technology decline over the past half-decade. The Obama Administration in May proposed slashing funding for Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT), one of the main government sources of technology for public schools, to $100 million in 2010, a 63% decline from this year's $269 million.

Many in education are calling into question how high a priority the new Administration is placing on technology in education. Soon after taking office, President Barack Obama publicly stressed the role of tech in the classroom to help America compete "with kids in Beijing for the high-tech, high-wage jobs of the future." But his budget proposal is "in conflict with that vision," says Mary Ann Wolf, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Assn.

seeking "smart classrooms"

Launched as part of the No Child Left Behind education reforms in 2002, EETT is designed to train more teachers to use technology in lessons and let states allocate federal grants to projects such as the "smart classrooms" being installed in Elmore County. The government has spent the same amount or less on EETT each year since 2002, when the program received $690 million.

And while the government has set aside an additional $650 million of the stimulus package for EETT projects over the next two years, educators fret that one-time spending—while helpful in buying needed equipment—won't cover costs for upkeep and teacher training. "The real cost of using technology wisely has to do with professional development on a fairly long term," says Dennis Small, director of educational technology for the state of Washington's public schools.

Districts are scrambling to figure out which technology will be cheapest to sustain over time. "People realize there's a funding cliff," says Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education. Jim Shelton, the U.S. Education Dept.'s assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement, concedes that states are being encouraged to "fund things now that are going to give them the capability to do significant work in the future even if they have less resources in the future." He suggests, for example, that states start using electronic reading materials to defray textbook costs.

The plan to decrease federal funding for EETT puts more of a burden on states at a time when their funds are drying up. Washington has cut at least 12 high-profile school tech directors from its payrolls, Small says. California has increased class size to reduce the need for layoffs. "We work with less, and we try to do more," says Katherine Hayden, a professor of educational technology at California State University at San Marcos who works on EETT projects with school districts in the region.