“Last November, voters approved Ballot Measure 3A, to provide ongoing funding for computers in the Boulder Valley School District, specifically providing for the replacement of computers every four years. The referendum passed by only 342 votes,” BVSDWatch.org (concerned Boulder Valley teachers, parents, volunteers, and taxpayers who wish to keep a watchful eye on the BVSD School Board and their activities) reports.

“At the January 24th BVSD board meeting, Robert Hammond, Chief Operations Officer, and Chris King, Deputy Superintendent, made it clear that the Superintendent’s Cabinet has decided to replace the district’s Macs with Hewlett Packard (HP) computers, running Microsoft Windows, over the next four years, with few exceptions,” BVSDWatch.org reports. “Currently 75% of the computers used in classrooms and computer labs are Macs. The goal, for them, is that only around 10% of the computers be Macs four years from now. No input was solicited from teachers, students, parents, or voiunteers, the people who this effects the most. Only HP was approached for a bid, the other BVSD approved vendors, Apple & Dell, were excluded from the bidding process.”

BVSDWatch.org provides a list of questions that concerned people can ask of the Boulder District Representatives and themselves and implores, “Contact your local district represenative (or as many as you like) and the Superintendant, and let them know how you feel about this decision. Get involved, now!”

Direct links to phone and email addresses, the full article, and an online poll, “Should BVSD Replace Macs with HP PCs?” (currently 92.9% “No”) are here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader "Rainy Day" for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: Even students they go directly into the workforce from high school, eschewing higher education – now a greater possibility for Boulder public school students if this short-sighted, ill-advised switch goes through (see “Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings“) – they will likely not be using the operating system they learned in high school. Teach the concepts of computing, not the specifics, since that will result in students being well-rounded and knowing how to use any computer they will encounter. Schools should choose Macs whenever possible since they are easier and cheaper to maintain than Windows PCs. For related info: http://macvspc.info/

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Related MacDailyNews article:
Colorado’s Boulder Valley Schools to dump Macs, switch to Windows PCs – January 25, 2006