MPS to Pay for HOME Internet Accessfor Teachers and Students

With all the problems facing Milwaukee Public Schools, this proposal takes the cake.

MPS aims to provide free Web access
Students, staff would get in-home wireless Internet

Looking to give poorer students the technological muscle to scale the "digital divide," the Milwaukee Public Schools district is turning to the promise of an emerging wireless service described as "Wi-Fi on steroids."

Using WiMax, MPS would provide free broadband Internet service to the homes of all MPS students and staff.

The district would be one of the first public entities in the country to launch a WiMax system, using television channels that the Federal Communications Commission allocated for educational purposes. A pilot system covering roughly 5 square miles is scheduled to be operating by August 2007.

James Davis, MPS director of technology, said he sees WiMax as the means to provide Internet access to students from families too poor to afford a phone line, for students who change addresses faster than service providers. Without this type of initiative, those students would fall further behind their peers, adding to the "digital divide," Davis said.

Even those students with computers at home are at a disadvantage when their parents can't afford monthly charges, even for a dial-up connection. Providing them with computers is another challenge that MPS is trying to tackle in other ways.

Clearly, free laptop computers for students and staff are next.

Some quick thoughts.

Giving free Internet access and computers to students and expecting this will automatically lead to academic achievement is akin to taking a field trip to the Mall and just expecting the kids will spend all their time in the book store.

This is also a bypass of the QEO/salary controls public teachers fall under according to Wisconsin law.

The digital divide is not among the largest problems facing MPS.

Not even among the top ten.

This is going to cost $500,000 just to set up.

Technology is a powerful tool, but it's just a tool. Thousands of students across Wisconsin are using the Internet every day to learn. However, an engaged student, involved parent and competent teacher are still necessary for a student to learn, be it at home or in the classroom. This Wi-Fi proposal ignores this fact. It is a gimmick.

Feel free to leave any comment justifying this as the best use of a half million in tax dollars.