budgets

Tennessee is a long way from putting a laptop in the hands of every one of its nearly 1 million public school students, but it is embarking on a technology plan that might change the classroom as much as the Internet changed the workplace.

If one follows press reports in this country, one gets the distinct impression that there is a grand scheme afoot to destroy the American public school system.

School officials in Santa Ana were in a bind several years ago: they wanted to build hundreds of new classrooms, but feared that voters would rebel against tax increases to pay for the construction.

It's wise for school officials to review all their options in the face of tight financial constraints.

When State District Judge John Dietz sided with school districts in their lawsuit over state funding, he cited three primary reasons to support public education: civic, altruistic and economic.

A $104.2 million school budget for 2013-2014 won unanimous Board of Education approval Monday, of which $1.1 million will be spent on technology.

Mike Rightmire, technology director for Northern Highlands (N.J.) Regional High School, told the Board of Education that teachers' computers are obsolete and need to be replaced.

Taxpayer dollars are missing, and chances are the state will never get them back.

More than 700 school board and state school boards association leaders are meeting with members of Congress on Tuesday.