Let's Reward Chicago's Dumbest Students With A Laptop!

[judyd]

What happens if some kids decide to keep the computers for themselves or sell them for drugs?

Probably wouldn't be worth much with a prominent engraving on it--"property of_______". As far as repairs, this would be a great learning opportunity for tech classes to be responsible for repairing these units and get them back out to the students.

Textbooks are expensive too, and can't be repaired.

At first glance it does seem to be frivolous, but I can see that it might have possibilities. Think of all of the research you do yourself, that you probably wouldn't be doing if you didn't have a computer at hand. I know that if I question something I can look up the answer immediately without a trip to the library. Kids are doing the same thing, just not in a formal setting.

 

[washamericom]

What happens if some kids decide to keep the computers for themselves or sell them for drugs?

Probably wouldn't be worth much with a prominent engraving on it--"property of_______". As far as repairs, this would be a great learning opportunity for tech classes to be responsible for repairing these units and get them back out to the students.

Textbooks are expensive too, and can't be repaired.

At first glance it does seem to be frivolous, but I can see that it might have possibilities. Think of all of the research you do yourself, that you probably wouldn't be doing if you didn't have a computer at hand. I know that if I question something I can look up the answer immediately without a trip to the library. Kids are doing the same thing, just not in a formal setting.

bingo ! and a side bonus is the kids teaching the parents, glues the generations, family time too !.
some laptops will get traded, the idea is volume, they'd have no real value to drug dealers.
if we can go to the moon we can build a rugged colorful laptop, we already have.
internet access is discretionary. the world comes home, everybody's a winner, it has to be better than cabrini green, we could give bullfighter the credit, turn his racism around.

 

[ConHog]

There is no way poor parents will be asked to pay for an insurance policy. So what will happen is the laptops will be mishandled and broken or sold for drugs and the kids will just get a new one. Anyone wanna place a wager?

Wanna bet. I just converted our high school over to laptops. Each parent is required to sign an agreement that they will pay the $100 deductible if the laptop needs to be replaced. No we don't provide any alternative. You sign it or your child does not get to enroll in our school. Yes, the school picks up the insurance premiums. It is MUCH cheaper than buying textbooks.

 

[washamericom]

We'll have to see how well tested the clout of the Chicago Teacher's union will be.
I say, the union bosses will do everything in their power to stop the longer school days as well as the extended Kindergarten hours.
This proposal(free laptops) comes straight out of la la land.

not true, the part about lala land.
no strings attached , no conditions bulletproof cheap replaceable bright colored laptops,
100 bucks apeice, gov pick up the tab, finally well spent stimulus $$$

everything else in this box is gold. especially about the grandaughters, so true...

Government picks up NOTHING.. The taxpayers will foot the bill. No way will a $100 laptop be a machine that will last or be usable for anything but the most rudimentary functions.
This would not e stimulus. It would be "porkulus"....Stimulus money is supposed to be for creating private sector jobs. Not giving gifts to kids. And trust me, than a free laptop will only encourage kids to feel entitled to even more taxpayer funded goodies.

i don't think i will "trust you", on that one, and i'm a wicked conservative

 

[ConHog]

Ok, why? And how?

hi annie, i believe in education, people can't help where they're born. you'd have to have seen cabrini green. the "dumbest" (don't mind bullshitter, it's his word and he's a neanderthal) or more apt "least educated" should get any access to information, regardless of politics, to help pull themselves out of squalor.
my brother said an interesting thing one time, he said "instead of dropping bombs on iraq we should have bombarded them with laptops and blackberries and other instruments of communication and education, then let it run it's course"
it hasn't worked with iran yet, but they are better for having "facebook for instance". i didn't read edwardo carrochios text, but the headline premise is a good one.
i'm trying to figure out why the mexican hater, uses "bullfighter"... unless maybe he too is a mexican, or wishes he was. either way, the boat has sailed on communicating with him.

The laptops should have NO internet access. The kids would spend their school days rat tat tatting away on such brainless sites as facebook and other waste of time sites.
Plus, in order to have a school with 3,000 laptops on a WiFi network, the school system would have to build mega- sites due the extremely heavy use of bandwidth. This construction would be cost prohibitive creating a need to boost property taxes. When taxes go up, people with the means, sell out and flee to the suburbs. This would further erode Chicago's already weak tax base. Those left behind would see even higher taxes.
This proposal just does not work. Too expensive.

You obviously have very little IT knowledge. Our school is small, I'll grant you (around 600 students 9-12 grade) but the principal is the same. Our gateway prevents students from visiting social sites, our teachers monitor their laptops while in classes for other inappropriate uses. As for bandwidth, A T1 connection can easily accomodate most public schools. Even in Chicago.

Actually we do EVERYTHING over our internal network , completely paperless classes. We don't even issue paper report cards. you're welcome to access our network and print one yourself, but we won't. Same with handbooks, notices, and whatever else. The savings are incalculable.

 

[judyd]

What happens if some kids decide to keep the computers for themselves or sell them for drugs?

Probably wouldn't be worth much with a prominent engraving on it--"property of_______". As far as repairs, this would be a great learning opportunity for tech classes to be responsible for repairing these units and get them back out to the students.

Textbooks are expensive too, and can't be repaired.

At first glance it does seem to be frivolous, but I can see that it might have possibilities. Think of all of the research you do yourself, that you probably wouldn't be doing if you didn't have a computer at hand. I know that if I question something I can look up the answer immediately without a trip to the library. Kids are doing the same thing, just not in a formal setting.

bingo ! and a side bonus is the kids teaching the parents, glues the generations, family time too !.
some laptops will get traded, the idea is volume, they'd have no real value to drug dealers.
if we can go to the moon we can build a rugged colorful laptop, we already have.
internet access is discretionary. the world comes home, everybody's a winner, it has to be better than cabrini green, we could give bullfighter the credit, turn his racism around.

Yes, some may get lost or stolen. These days some backpacks full of text books are also lost or stolen. Probably about the same value as the laptop. If school systems got a contract with Acer or a comparable manufacturer, they could outfit each student for probably around 100-200.

 

[chanel]

In a public school, you cannot say "no deductible; no school". We have students who owe hundreds of dollars in obligations. The state has said we can't even hold their report cards or transcripts as collateral. The only thing the school can do is hold the diploma. And some kids don't give a rats ass about that either. Employers don't ask for it.

 

[thereisnospoon]

There is no way poor parents will be asked to pay for an insurance policy. So what will happen is the laptops will be mishandled and broken or sold for drugs and the kids will just get a new one. Anyone wanna place a wager?

Wanna bet. I just converted our high school over to laptops. Each parent is required to sign an agreement that they will pay the $100 deductible if the laptop needs to be replaced. No we don't provide any alternative. You sign it or your child does not get to enroll in our school. Yes, the school picks up the insurance premiums. It is MUCH cheaper than buying textbooks.

A public school?

Ok. so how do you explain to the parent who opts out of the program that their child will be attending school elsewhere?
Unless you are with a private school, I am calling bullshit.

 

[washamericom]

There is no way poor parents will be asked to pay for an insurance policy. So what will happen is the laptops will be mishandled and broken or sold for drugs and the kids will just get a new one. Anyone wanna place a wager?

Wanna bet. I just converted our high school over to laptops. Each parent is required to sign an agreement that they will pay the $100 deductible if the laptop needs to be replaced. No we don't provide any alternative. You sign it or your child does not get to enroll in our school. Yes, the school picks up the insurance premiums. It is MUCH cheaper than buying textbooks.

A public school?

Ok. so how do you explain to the parent who opts out of the program that their child will be attending school elsewhere?
Unless you are with a private school, I am calling bullshit.

i think you guys are missing the point, no ransom, no strings, no insurance companies

 

[Annie]

We'll have to see how well tested the clout of the Chicago Teacher's union will be.
I say, the union bosses will do everything in their power to stop the longer school days as well as the extended Kindergarten hours.
This proposal(free laptops) comes straight out of la la land.

not true, the part about lala land.
no strings attached , no conditions bulletproof cheap replaceable bright colored laptops,
100 bucks apeice, gov pick up the tab, finally well spent stimulus $$$

everything else in this box is gold. especially about the grandaughters, so true...

Government picks up NOTHING.. The taxpayers will foot the bill. No way will a $100 laptop be a machine that will last or be usable for anything but the most rudimentary functions.
This would not e stimulus. It would be "porkulus"....Stimulus money is supposed to be for creating private sector jobs. Not giving gifts to kids. And trust me, than a free laptop will only encourage kids to feel entitled to even more taxpayer funded goodies.

At wholesale a $100 notebook would be fine for most uses in gradeschool/high school, but not durable enough if going to be carried from place to place as often as students would have to.

At the middle school I taught at, we had Panasonic Toughbooks, which went from classroom to classroom, but they rooms were directly across the hall, no stairs. There were usually 12 out of 30 working at one time, which was not a big deal as they were not the students texts. I thought a mistake was not 'checking out the computers to individuals,' instead those who got one, had it. Thus various computers were going from student to student. It seems to me they are nearly like cars, do better with one operator in general.

I'm all for technology, but this doesn't seem like a plan that will work in Chicago. But I've little doubt that if they can find the initial funding, they'd do it.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Probably wouldn't be worth much with a prominent engraving on it--"property of_______". As far as repairs, this would be a great learning opportunity for tech classes to be responsible for repairing these units and get them back out to the students.

Textbooks are expensive too, and can't be repaired.

At first glance it does seem to be frivolous, but I can see that it might have possibilities. Think of all of the research you do yourself, that you probably wouldn't be doing if you didn't have a computer at hand. I know that if I question something I can look up the answer immediately without a trip to the library. Kids are doing the same thing, just not in a formal setting.

bingo ! and a side bonus is the kids teaching the parents, glues the generations, family time too !.
some laptops will get traded, the idea is volume, they'd have no real value to drug dealers.
if we can go to the moon we can build a rugged colorful laptop, we already have.
internet access is discretionary. the world comes home, everybody's a winner, it has to be better than cabrini green, we could give bullfighter the credit, turn his racism around.

Yes, some may get lost or stolen. These days some backpacks full of text books are also lost or stolen. Probably about the same value as the laptop. If school systems got a contract with Acer or a comparable manufacturer, they could outfit each student for probably around 100-200.

Such experts at spending other people's money.
Laptops have little value if abused. And what is to stop kids from abusing an electronics toy such as a laptop.
C'mon, this is stupid.
Let me be the first to state I am so very glad I am not living within the greedy clutches of the Chicago Govco schools.

 

[thereisnospoon]

not true, the part about lala land.
no strings attached , no conditions bulletproof cheap replaceable bright colored laptops,
100 bucks apeice, gov pick up the tab, finally well spent stimulus $$$

everything else in this box is gold. especially about the grandaughters, so true...

Government picks up NOTHING.. The taxpayers will foot the bill. No way will a $100 laptop be a machine that will last or be usable for anything but the most rudimentary functions.
This would not e stimulus. It would be "porkulus"....Stimulus money is supposed to be for creating private sector jobs. Not giving gifts to kids. And trust me, than a free laptop will only encourage kids to feel entitled to even more taxpayer funded goodies.

i don't think i will "trust you", on that one, and i'm a wicked conservative

If you're a conservative you would not be supporting this. That's a fact.

 

[syrenn]

A Laptop in Every Pot:

Gery Chico's Promises to Chicago Public Schools

By Carol Felsenthal
At a news conference Tuesday, mayoral candidate Gery Chico offered so much good stuff to students and their parents that it’s hard to imagine why any voter with a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew in the Chicago public schools wouldn’t vote for him.

Here’s some of what Chico is offering:

• Laptops for all
• School days extended by two hours—a boon to working parents
• School year extended by 25 days
• Full-day kindergarten
• Preschool for all three- and four-year-olds

I asked him on Thursday how he plans to pay for all this.
“The first place I would look is in the textbook budget that we have today, which is tens of millions of dollars,” Chico said. Sleek laptops would replace the universally despised tomes. Though he held up an Apple MacBookPro at the news conference, he said the computers he plans to offer—first to high school students, next to first- through eighth-graders—could be Apples, Dells, or another brand. By the end of his first term, every student would have a state-of-the-art laptop to bring to class and to take home. “If I can do it sooner, I’ll do it sooner.”

Chico said he hopes that those nice people at Apple, who renovated the dingy North and Clybourn stop on the Red Line abutting the new Apple store, might want to kick in some money. “This would be the largest bulk purchase of hardware maybe in the history of education, and so you’re darn right we would have direct conversations with manufacturers.” Asked if he has heard yet from the likes of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, he said, “No, not yet, but they will [call].”

His second step to pay for his proposed items would be to cut the central office staff by a third. “In the HR department when I was there [as board president from 1995-2001], it was about 90 people. Today it’s about 170 to 180, with fewer employees to manage.”

Chico told me that the feedback—particularly to the laptop part of his plan—has been ecstatic. “I walk down the street, and strangers shout, ‘Chico, great idea on the laptops.’”

I asked him about the student who gets jumped walking home with his computer, or the kid whose home life is so unstable that the laptop disappears in a drug deal. “I have more faith than that—in our parents and our kids. You’re going to have a certain percentage of loss, but that doesn’t mean we don’t do the program. We have to aspire to be better.”
“Has anyone accused you of offering a bribe?” I asked. “A laptop for a vote?”

“I’m not trying to pander to anybody,” Chico said. “I’m trying to make schools in this city the best in the country, and you’re not going to get there by namby-pamby, band-aid approaches.”

Chico’s opinions about the bloated bureaucracy at CPS were a surprise to Mayor Daley, who said Thursday: “He never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever mentioned that to me.” Asked if he had read Chico’s plan to revamp the schools, Daley snapped, “I have better things to do.” The mayor’s response was quite a turn from what he said about Chico in a September interview just after announcing his retirement. He had called Chico “a wonderful public servant” who was “closer to [him] than anyone else.”
Later on Thursday, Chico called another press conference and credited Daley for doing a “tremendous job” for Chicago. But the candidate held his ground: “This isn’t about Mayor Daley or any one person. I stand on my own two feet. If it ruffles feathers, what am I going to do about it?”

A Laptop in Every Pot: Gery Chico's Promises to Chicago Public Schools - Felsenthal Files - November 2010

-------------------------------------------------

Only the most corrupt of politicians would tangle a free laptop in front of the parents of some of the dumbest students in America. I guess Chico feels he can grease his way into the Office of Mayor of Chicago with this stunt. And look at the extra 2 hours of free baby sitting he is giving the parents of those bandit babies from south of the border.

What next: Small arms and explosives training for the invading third world students under the Dream Act?

OH laptops! Great a better way to melt their minds. More games. More social networks. Something to break that will need fixing.

Sorry what a DUMB idea.

 

[washamericom]

bingo ! and a side bonus is the kids teaching the parents, glues the generations, family time too !.
some laptops will get traded, the idea is volume, they'd have no real value to drug dealers.
if we can go to the moon we can build a rugged colorful laptop, we already have.
internet access is discretionary. the world comes home, everybody's a winner, it has to be better than cabrini green, we could give bullfighter the credit, turn his racism around.

Yes, some may get lost or stolen. These days some backpacks full of text books are also lost or stolen. Probably about the same value as the laptop. If school systems got a contract with Acer or a comparable manufacturer, they could outfit each student for probably around 100-200.

Such experts at spending other people's money.
Laptops have little value if abused. And what is to stop kids from abusing an electronics toy such as a laptop.
C'mon, this is stupid.
Let me be the first to state I am so very glad I am not living within the greedy clutches of the Chicago Govco schools.

you have a laptop, and that's what the government does, spends other people's dough, it's a great idea on so many levels.

 

[washamericom]

Government picks up NOTHING.. The taxpayers will foot the bill. No way will a $100 laptop be a machine that will last or be usable for anything but the most rudimentary functions.
This would not e stimulus. It would be "porkulus"....Stimulus money is supposed to be for creating private sector jobs. Not giving gifts to kids. And trust me, than a free laptop will only encourage kids to feel entitled to even more taxpayer funded goodies.

i don't think i will "trust you", on that one, and i'm a wicked conservative

If you're a conservative you would not be supporting this. That's a fact.

"new conservative" we need to move past stale thinking...

 

[washamericom]

A Laptop in Every Pot:

Gery Chico's Promises to Chicago Public Schools

By Carol Felsenthal
At a news conference Tuesday, mayoral candidate Gery Chico offered so much good stuff to students and their parents that it’s hard to imagine why any voter with a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew in the Chicago public schools wouldn’t vote for him.

Here’s some of what Chico is offering:

• Laptops for all
• School days extended by two hours—a boon to working parents
• School year extended by 25 days
• Full-day kindergarten
• Preschool for all three- and four-year-olds

I asked him on Thursday how he plans to pay for all this.
“The first place I would look is in the textbook budget that we have today, which is tens of millions of dollars,” Chico said. Sleek laptops would replace the universally despised tomes. Though he held up an Apple MacBookPro at the news conference, he said the computers he plans to offer—first to high school students, next to first- through eighth-graders—could be Apples, Dells, or another brand. By the end of his first term, every student would have a state-of-the-art laptop to bring to class and to take home. “If I can do it sooner, I’ll do it sooner.”

Chico said he hopes that those nice people at Apple, who renovated the dingy North and Clybourn stop on the Red Line abutting the new Apple store, might want to kick in some money. “This would be the largest bulk purchase of hardware maybe in the history of education, and so you’re darn right we would have direct conversations with manufacturers.” Asked if he has heard yet from the likes of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, he said, “No, not yet, but they will [call].”

His second step to pay for his proposed items would be to cut the central office staff by a third. “In the HR department when I was there [as board president from 1995-2001], it was about 90 people. Today it’s about 170 to 180, with fewer employees to manage.”

Chico told me that the feedback—particularly to the laptop part of his plan—has been ecstatic. “I walk down the street, and strangers shout, ‘Chico, great idea on the laptops.’”

I asked him about the student who gets jumped walking home with his computer, or the kid whose home life is so unstable that the laptop disappears in a drug deal. “I have more faith than that—in our parents and our kids. You’re going to have a certain percentage of loss, but that doesn’t mean we don’t do the program. We have to aspire to be better.”
“Has anyone accused you of offering a bribe?” I asked. “A laptop for a vote?”

“I’m not trying to pander to anybody,” Chico said. “I’m trying to make schools in this city the best in the country, and you’re not going to get there by namby-pamby, band-aid approaches.”

Chico’s opinions about the bloated bureaucracy at CPS were a surprise to Mayor Daley, who said Thursday: “He never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever mentioned that to me.” Asked if he had read Chico’s plan to revamp the schools, Daley snapped, “I have better things to do.” The mayor’s response was quite a turn from what he said about Chico in a September interview just after announcing his retirement. He had called Chico “a wonderful public servant” who was “closer to [him] than anyone else.”
Later on Thursday, Chico called another press conference and credited Daley for doing a “tremendous job” for Chicago. But the candidate held his ground: “This isn’t about Mayor Daley or any one person. I stand on my own two feet. If it ruffles feathers, what am I going to do about it?”

A Laptop in Every Pot: Gery Chico's Promises to Chicago Public Schools - Felsenthal Files - November 2010

-------------------------------------------------

Only the most corrupt of politicians would tangle a free laptop in front of the parents of some of the dumbest students in America. I guess Chico feels he can grease his way into the Office of Mayor of Chicago with this stunt. And look at the extra 2 hours of free baby sitting he is giving the parents of those bandit babies from south of the border.

What next: Small arms and explosives training for the invading third world students under the Dream Act?

OH laptops! Great a better way to melt their minds. More games. More social networks. Something to break that will need fixing.

Sorry what a DUMB idea.

too cynical

 

[thereisnospoon]

hi annie, i believe in education, people can't help where they're born. you'd have to have seen cabrini green. the "dumbest" (don't mind bullshitter, it's his word and he's a neanderthal) or more apt "least educated" should get any access to information, regardless of politics, to help pull themselves out of squalor.
my brother said an interesting thing one time, he said "instead of dropping bombs on iraq we should have bombarded them with laptops and blackberries and other instruments of communication and education, then let it run it's course"
it hasn't worked with iran yet, but they are better for having "facebook for instance". i didn't read edwardo carrochios text, but the headline premise is a good one.
i'm trying to figure out why the mexican hater, uses "bullfighter"... unless maybe he too is a mexican, or wishes he was. either way, the boat has sailed on communicating with him.

The laptops should have NO internet access. The kids would spend their school days rat tat tatting away on such brainless sites as facebook and other waste of time sites.
Plus, in order to have a school with 3,000 laptops on a WiFi network, the school system would have to build mega- sites due the extremely heavy use of bandwidth. This construction would be cost prohibitive creating a need to boost property taxes. When taxes go up, people with the means, sell out and flee to the suburbs. This would further erode Chicago's already weak tax base. Those left behind would see even higher taxes.
This proposal just does not work. Too expensive.

You obviously have very little IT knowledge. Our school is small, I'll grant you (around 600 students 9-12 grade) but the principal is the same. Our gateway prevents students from visiting social sites, our teachers monitor their laptops while in classes for other inappropriate uses. As for bandwidth, A T1 connection can easily accomodate most public schools. Even in Chicago.

Actually we do EVERYTHING over our internal network , completely paperless classes. We don't even issue paper report cards. you're welcome to access our network and print one yourself, but we won't. Same with handbooks, notices, and whatever else. The savings are incalculable.

T1 would be a hardwired connection to the school server then broadcast on a WiFi network. At that point the heavy use of the WiFi would create traffic problems.
The "principal"?....Did you mean "principle"?....
No it is not the same. Use of bandwidth is limited. The distribution system can easily become overloaded by excessive use.
Same a as cell site where there is heavy use by calls and data use. Dropped calls and slow internet connections are attributed directly to traffic.
It's very nice for your small private school. Chicago's schools are often 5 times the size of yours.
My friend went to school in Cicero, IL. His high school had 3,500 kids on 4 floors.
Now just what do you think 3,500 laptops all clamoring for a spot on the internet would do to that bandwidth.
Don't tell me I do not know about this stuff. you expose yourself as unknwoledgable in this area as this has nothing to do with "IT".

 

[thereisnospoon]

A Laptop in Every Pot:

Gery Chico's Promises to Chicago Public Schools

By Carol Felsenthal
At a news conference Tuesday, mayoral candidate Gery Chico offered so much good stuff to students and their parents that it’s hard to imagine why any voter with a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew in the Chicago public schools wouldn’t vote for him.

Here’s some of what Chico is offering:

• Laptops for all
• School days extended by two hours—a boon to working parents
• School year extended by 25 days
• Full-day kindergarten
• Preschool for all three- and four-year-olds

I asked him on Thursday how he plans to pay for all this.
“The first place I would look is in the textbook budget that we have today, which is tens of millions of dollars,” Chico said. Sleek laptops would replace the universally despised tomes. Though he held up an Apple MacBookPro at the news conference, he said the computers he plans to offer—first to high school students, next to first- through eighth-graders—could be Apples, Dells, or another brand. By the end of his first term, every student would have a state-of-the-art laptop to bring to class and to take home. “If I can do it sooner, I’ll do it sooner.”

Chico said he hopes that those nice people at Apple, who renovated the dingy North and Clybourn stop on the Red Line abutting the new Apple store, might want to kick in some money. “This would be the largest bulk purchase of hardware maybe in the history of education, and so you’re darn right we would have direct conversations with manufacturers.” Asked if he has heard yet from the likes of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, he said, “No, not yet, but they will [call].”

His second step to pay for his proposed items would be to cut the central office staff by a third. “In the HR department when I was there [as board president from 1995-2001], it was about 90 people. Today it’s about 170 to 180, with fewer employees to manage.”

Chico told me that the feedback—particularly to the laptop part of his plan—has been ecstatic. “I walk down the street, and strangers shout, ‘Chico, great idea on the laptops.’”

I asked him about the student who gets jumped walking home with his computer, or the kid whose home life is so unstable that the laptop disappears in a drug deal. “I have more faith than that—in our parents and our kids. You’re going to have a certain percentage of loss, but that doesn’t mean we don’t do the program. We have to aspire to be better.”
“Has anyone accused you of offering a bribe?” I asked. “A laptop for a vote?”

“I’m not trying to pander to anybody,” Chico said. “I’m trying to make schools in this city the best in the country, and you’re not going to get there by namby-pamby, band-aid approaches.”

Chico’s opinions about the bloated bureaucracy at CPS were a surprise to Mayor Daley, who said Thursday: “He never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever mentioned that to me.” Asked if he had read Chico’s plan to revamp the schools, Daley snapped, “I have better things to do.” The mayor’s response was quite a turn from what he said about Chico in a September interview just after announcing his retirement. He had called Chico “a wonderful public servant” who was “closer to [him] than anyone else.”
Later on Thursday, Chico called another press conference and credited Daley for doing a “tremendous job” for Chicago. But the candidate held his ground: “This isn’t about Mayor Daley or any one person. I stand on my own two feet. If it ruffles feathers, what am I going to do about it?”

A Laptop in Every Pot: Gery Chico's Promises to Chicago Public Schools - Felsenthal Files - November 2010

-------------------------------------------------

Only the most corrupt of politicians would tangle a free laptop in front of the parents of some of the dumbest students in America. I guess Chico feels he can grease his way into the Office of Mayor of Chicago with this stunt. And look at the extra 2 hours of free baby sitting he is giving the parents of those bandit babies from south of the border.

What next: Small arms and explosives training for the invading third world students under the Dream Act?

OH laptops! Great a better way to melt their minds. More games. More social networks. Something to break that will need fixing.

Sorry what a DUMB idea.

too cynical

No. An unfunded idea that will turn into another pie in the sky bestowed upon the taxpayers of Chicago by the do-gooder lefties. The people who think throwing money at a problem can fix it.

 

[washamericom]

The laptops should have NO internet access. The kids would spend their school days rat tat tatting away on such brainless sites as facebook and other waste of time sites.
Plus, in order to have a school with 3,000 laptops on a WiFi network, the school system would have to build mega- sites due the extremely heavy use of bandwidth. This construction would be cost prohibitive creating a need to boost property taxes. When taxes go up, people with the means, sell out and flee to the suburbs. This would further erode Chicago's already weak tax base. Those left behind would see even higher taxes.
This proposal just does not work. Too expensive.

You obviously have very little IT knowledge. Our school is small, I'll grant you (around 600 students 9-12 grade) but the principal is the same. Our gateway prevents students from visiting social sites, our teachers monitor their laptops while in classes for other inappropriate uses. As for bandwidth, A T1 connection can easily accomodate most public schools. Even in Chicago.

Actually we do EVERYTHING over our internal network , completely paperless classes. We don't even issue paper report cards. you're welcome to access our network and print one yourself, but we won't. Same with handbooks, notices, and whatever else. The savings are incalculable.

T1 would be a hardwired connection to the school server then broadcast on a WiFi network. At that point the heavy use of the WiFi would create traffic problems.
The "principal"?....Did you mean "principle"?....
No it is not the same. Use of bandwidth is limited. The distribution system can easily become overloaded by excessive use.
Same a as cell site where there is heavy use by calls and data use. Dropped calls and slow internet connections are attributed directly to traffic.
It's very nice for your small private school. Chicago's schools are often 5 times the size of yours.
My friend went to school in Cicero, IL. His high school had 3,500 kids on 4 floors.
Now just what do you think 3,500 laptops all clamoring for a spot on the internet would do to that bandwidth.
Don't tell me I do not know about this stuff. you expose yourself as unknwoledgable in this area as this has nothing to do with "IT".

the city of toronto has been wireless for a decade, college campuses, the principle is your pal

 

[syrenn]

A Laptop in Every Pot:

Gery Chico's Promises to Chicago Public Schools

By Carol Felsenthal
At a news conference Tuesday, mayoral candidate Gery Chico offered so much good stuff to students and their parents that it’s hard to imagine why any voter with a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew in the Chicago public schools wouldn’t vote for him.

Here’s some of what Chico is offering:

• Laptops for all
• School days extended by two hours—a boon to working parents
• School year extended by 25 days
• Full-day kindergarten
• Preschool for all three- and four-year-olds

I asked him on Thursday how he plans to pay for all this.
“The first place I would look is in the textbook budget that we have today, which is tens of millions of dollars,” Chico said. Sleek laptops would replace the universally despised tomes. Though he held up an Apple MacBookPro at the news conference, he said the computers he plans to offer—first to high school students, next to first- through eighth-graders—could be Apples, Dells, or another brand. By the end of his first term, every student would have a state-of-the-art laptop to bring to class and to take home. “If I can do it sooner, I’ll do it sooner.”

Chico said he hopes that those nice people at Apple, who renovated the dingy North and Clybourn stop on the Red Line abutting the new Apple store, might want to kick in some money. “This would be the largest bulk purchase of hardware maybe in the history of education, and so you’re darn right we would have direct conversations with manufacturers.” Asked if he has heard yet from the likes of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, he said, “No, not yet, but they will [call].”

His second step to pay for his proposed items would be to cut the central office staff by a third. “In the HR department when I was there [as board president from 1995-2001], it was about 90 people. Today it’s about 170 to 180, with fewer employees to manage.”

Chico told me that the feedback—particularly to the laptop part of his plan—has been ecstatic. “I walk down the street, and strangers shout, ‘Chico, great idea on the laptops.’”

I asked him about the student who gets jumped walking home with his computer, or the kid whose home life is so unstable that the laptop disappears in a drug deal. “I have more faith than that—in our parents and our kids. You’re going to have a certain percentage of loss, but that doesn’t mean we don’t do the program. We have to aspire to be better.”
“Has anyone accused you of offering a bribe?” I asked. “A laptop for a vote?”

“I’m not trying to pander to anybody,” Chico said. “I’m trying to make schools in this city the best in the country, and you’re not going to get there by namby-pamby, band-aid approaches.”

Chico’s opinions about the bloated bureaucracy at CPS were a surprise to Mayor Daley, who said Thursday: “He never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever mentioned that to me.” Asked if he had read Chico’s plan to revamp the schools, Daley snapped, “I have better things to do.” The mayor’s response was quite a turn from what he said about Chico in a September interview just after announcing his retirement. He had called Chico “a wonderful public servant” who was “closer to [him] than anyone else.”
Later on Thursday, Chico called another press conference and credited Daley for doing a “tremendous job” for Chicago. But the candidate held his ground: “This isn’t about Mayor Daley or any one person. I stand on my own two feet. If it ruffles feathers, what am I going to do about it?”

A Laptop in Every Pot: Gery Chico's Promises to Chicago Public Schools - Felsenthal Files - November 2010

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Only the most corrupt of politicians would tangle a free laptop in front of the parents of some of the dumbest students in America. I guess Chico feels he can grease his way into the Office of Mayor of Chicago with this stunt. And look at the extra 2 hours of free baby sitting he is giving the parents of those bandit babies from south of the border.

What next: Small arms and explosives training for the invading third world students under the Dream Act?

OH laptops! Great a better way to melt their minds. More games. More social networks. Something to break that will need fixing.

Sorry what a DUMB idea.

too cynical

Not quite. More of a realist.

As it is now school is free or shall i say daycare is free. If parents want to pay for laptops, all of the associated hardware and upkeep for their children, great.