“It’s the new age-old question, ‘Which is better, Mac or PC?’ The Arlington [Virginia] Public Schools are looking at making the switch from using mostly Macintoshes to personal computers, but teachers say they have been left out of the decision-making process and want to keep their computers,” Gail Norheim reports for The Northern Virginia Journal. “‘Why shouldn’t instructional staff be the first to be addressed about instructional issues?’ Lee Dorman, a sixth-grade teacher at Kenmore Middle School who would be affected by the decision, said at a recent School Board meeting.”

“The majority of computers in the Arlington school system are Macs, used by teachers in most of the county’s elementary and middle schools, and some high school programs. All administration employees use – and all data is stored on – PCs. The time and expertise it takes to run a dual platform system has taken a toll on the small systems and technology staff, said James Carroll, director of instructional media and technology,” Norheim reports.

“Additionally, it has gotten harder for Carroll’s staff to find technicians who are qualified in both Macs and PCs, with some believing the change would solve those problems. But teachers have hundreds of documents such as worksheets, templates and research projects, which would all be either lost or have to be redone if the PC platform was adopted. ‘It gives me a headache just thinking about it,’ Dorman said. She finds Macs are more user-friendly for her students.”

“‘As we begin to look to the future, we have limited funds,’ Carroll said. ‘We are going to try to see if it makes more sense to have a predominantly PC environment. The feeling is that it could provide us with better support and more reliable networks,’” Norheim reports.

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: We have sent James Carroll links to macvspc.info and Apple’s PowerSchool. In addition, level-headed, informed, and reasoned correspondence (represent the Mac side well, MDN readers – please vent first and/or report responses from Carroll using our Reader Feedback below) can be sent here:

James Carroll
Director, Instructional Media and Technology
Arlington Public Schools
1426 N. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22207
Phone: (703) 228-7679
Fax: (703) 875-9491
E-mail: jac703@aol.com

Related MacDailyNews articles:
Pennsylvania school district’s PCs infected with virus; their Macs unaffected – October 01, 2003
Florida students patch 360 PCs in marathon session due to Blaster virus; their Macs unaffected – October 01, 2003
Pinellas County migration from Mac to PC faces derision – September 17, 2003
Montana school district’s Windows computers offline due to worm; Macintosh computers unaffected – September 03, 2003
More schools experience Windows virus, worm problems while Macs just keep working – August 22, 2003
A tale of two school systems: Windows schools crippled while Mac schools unaffected – August 21, 2003