“Superior Court Judge S. Lark Ingram ordered an immediate halt to a groundbreaking laptop computer program Friday because school leaders did not tell Cobb County voters what they wanted to do with a voter-approved special sales tax,” Kristina Torres reports for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Ingram said the ruling had nothing to do with the merits of the program. But, she said, ‘fair notice of such use was not given to the public when the referendum for [the sales tax] was held.'”
The deal was originally structured to “eventually distribute 63,000 Apple iBook laptops to all teachers and all students in grades six through 12. About $25 million of the sales tax money was to be used for the program’s first phase, which the school board approved in April,” Torres reports. “Ingram agreed with Barnes’ argument. As a result of the ruling, the only way school officials could pay for the program would be to use their general fund. The school board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday to talk about the decision. It is likely any decision to appeal would be made then.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: FUBAR.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
One Cobb County Apple iBook audit expected to finish soon – July 27, 2005
Inquiry into Cobb County Apple iBook bids requested – July 14, 2005
Cobb County iBook saga: allegations that school leaders pressured employees to pick Apple – July 11, 2005
Lawsuit to halt Cobb County’s 63,000 Apple iBooks for education plan goes to court today – July 08, 2005
Cobb County’s Apple iBooks in schools saga continues with lawsuit – June 04, 2005
Lawsuit filed to stop Cobb County’s Apple iBook program – June 01, 2005
Cobb County school board approves Apple Mac plan; could eventually distribute 63,000 iBooks – April 29, 2005
Henrico school board dumps Apple Macs, picks Dells with Windows – April 29, 2005
Cobb County school officials intend to move forward with Apple iBook program – April 21, 2005
Cobb Commission chief urges delay in Apple iBook program, says issue has become too emotional – April 20, 2005
No conflict of interest in ongoing Cobb County Apple iBook saga – April 19, 2005
More controversy in Atlanta-area school district’s plan to buy Apple iBooks – April 16, 2005
Cobb County Georgia approves first phase of plan that could equip schools with 63,000 Apple iBooks – April 15, 2005
Atlanta-area school district on verge of deal for 31,000 Apple iBooks – April 12, 2005
Cobb teachers voice concerns over using Macs for proposed laptop program – March 29, 2005
Cobb County Georgia meeting discusses plan to equip schools with 63,000 Apple iBooks – February 24, 2005
Report: 90 percent of emails opposed to Georgia’s Apple iBook program – February 10, 2005
65,000 Apple iBooks for Georgia schools one of the largest school laptop programs in the country – February 10, 2005
Georgia school district to propose 63,000 Macs for students and teachers – February 07, 2005
Fukking bitchy taxpayers, how greedy can people be? The money’s going for EDUCATION!!!!
fubar? what is this? first post?
I hope this doesn’t mean it’s over! I was looking forward to a blossoming Mac culture in metro Atlanta as a result of this program.
A workmate’s wife is an educator for Cobb County and she already has an iBook given to her by the county school system. No suprise to anyone here, but my workmate says she loves the new laptop.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
J, are you asking what the acronym “FUBAR” means?
fubar |ˈfoōˌbär| adjective: out of working order; seriously, perhaps irreparably, damaged : the Cobb County iBook plan is fubar. ORIGIN 1940s: acronym from fucked up beyond all recognition (or repair).
>”Superior Court Judge S. Lark Ingram ordered an immediate halt to a groundbreaking laptop computer program Friday>
Wot a bloody lark, Judge Lark Ingrown.
MW-board, as in back to the board.
Once again proves that Southerners aren’t very bright.
Get over it. If the terms of this deal were not a part of the special referendum, and voters approved the sales tax under perception that the money would be used for other purposes, then the judge can and SHOULD shut this thing down. Public officials shouldn’t be running around willy-nilly in the public trough without some sort of accountability. If I were a taxpayer and voter in Cobb County, I’d be pissed as punch too. iBooks for the kiddies is a great dream, but I’m sure $25 million could go toward MUCH better things to enhance these kids’ educations. Like more teachers, smaller classrooms–and I know the idea is quaint, but how ’bout more books?
Oh, STFU OnlyMacs. All you have demonstrated through your bias is that _you_ aren’t very bright.
I live in a school district which has the only high school laptop program in the county. I have 3 daughters who have gone to, or are currently in this school. After talking to several teachers, they all agree that this laptop program has not lived up to everything the school board and teachers thought it would be.
In fact, some of the teachers who had the honors or accelerated classes have switched to non-laptop courses because they feel the program has actually proven to be detrimental to learning. The feeling I get from those teachers, is that the students are not yet mature enough to be responsible “owners” of the laptops, and some treat them like toys.
It has also been said that this upcoming school year will be the last of the laptop program.
What I don’t understand, is that 90% of the desktop computers in every school in my district are Macs. But they accepted a deal from Dell, and then IBM for the laptops. I know us Mac fans could point to that as the reason why the program didn’t work – we all know that iBooks would be more reliable then any other Windows based laptop.
But the answer is more complicated then just what brand of laptop taxpayers’ money is spent on.
Well put Hemorrhoid Rage. I am all for Macs in schools, but this case became an issue of public accountability.
Done properly, you don’t need any physical textbooks or back-breaking backpacks to lug them around in — if you have the Apple iBooks. Physical paper and bound textbooks are a complete waste of money. Therefore, Cobb has probably already placed their $25 million textbook order. Rubes.
>> Like more teachers, smaller classrooms <<
That’s funny. We’ve been throwing money into that black hole since I was a kid and I’m now old.
Want a better education for Cobb students? Spend the $25 million on breaking the back of the fucking NEA and get some real teachers who can’t coast along pulling their puds for 25 years until they can retire.
Sorry for the reality burst. I now return you to the rose-colored fantasy world of Hemorrhoid Rage, where everyone hugs trees and listens to 55-minute Dead tunes.
“Get over it. If the terms of this deal were not a part of the special referendum, and voters approved the sales tax under perception that the money would be used for other purposes, then the judge can and SHOULD shut this thing down. Public officials shouldn’t be running around willy-nilly in the public trough without some sort of accountability. If I were a taxpayer and voter in Cobb County, I’d be pissed as punch too. iBooks for the kiddies is a great dream, but I’m sure $25 million could go toward MUCH better things to enhance these kids’ educations. Like more teachers, smaller classrooms–and I know the idea is quaint, but how ’bout more books?”
…….or here’s an idea why don’t you right wing neo-fascists just throw that 25M. into the pockets of those Bush buddy charlatans that ALREADY get a far too large a slice of the education pie, yes that tragic farce called “No Child Left Behind” “program” and the expensive testing services sold by none other then corrupt Bushites !!! As I have said before future cannon fodder doesn’t need all that fancy equipment like computers a whittling knife and a stick will do.
The dammed truth.
If the laptop program is cancelled maybe the money will be spent on buying new iMacs or Minis for all the schools instead.
Either way Apple will get the cash and the students will get education on computers.
Whilst a lot of people here getting angry with one stance or another, I’m more curious to find out whether programs like “leave no child behind”, laptop programs etc are helping to improve education in this country.
Fact is kids are being left behind in education. I saw it happen when I grew up (in the UK) and hear of it happening here in the US to too many kids. These kinds of experiments are need cos the current system is failing for sure.
So whether it is yearly testing, smaller class sizes, multimedia teaching, we certainly need to find a way to improve the system.
Fact is though, government puts little resources into education and teachers salaries are a joke. So it is no wonder that we are in this trouble.
I’m tickled pink by your lunatic left-wing rambling. Referring to Apple iBook-advocates as “neofascists”…priceless!
You’re a fabulous advocate for anti-Bush sentiment. Whatever you do, don’t stop “speaking out”–express yourself!!
XOXO
Kate
Hey Mr not so bright “Hemorrhoid Rage” the special referendum was for “technology” meaning the money can not be used for teachers or books. This is simply a case of one asshole whining because he didn’t want it passed in the first place.
It’s to bad that are childrens education has to be slowed down because every idiot with an opinion can file a lawsuit these days.
Note* as some who has worked in k-12 education technology I can positively say this is the best way to spend the money. Desktops would spend 99% of the time sitting unused in a empty room.
Kate, there is no need for left wing rambling when Pres Bush flip-flops his way through the next three years. By the end of his term, the USA should be well on its downward spiral (which began the day Bush was elected 5 years ago).
on to my left wing rant…
This country is filled with people who have no problem with their tax dollars funding an outlaw style war based on lies, but are too greedy to fund education. This sickness of mismanaged anger and a “fatter is better” philoshophy dominated in this culture is at the heart of many problems. It’s just here that we see a sore out in the open. Very few have the ability to see more than five inches in front of their face, and as such see no need to invest in education, the environment, renewable energy sources, etc. Instead they give you all kinds of excuses to spend your money on a bunch of shit no-one needs. After all, remember it’s your money. Wasn’t that one of Bush’s major campaign themes? This should come as no surprise then.
Is this the same Cobb county that wanted to teach God created the world in 6,000 years rather than evolution?
To: NEA-loving cretins
Re: No Child Left Behind
The 2004 National Assessment of Educational Progress, released last week, shows 9-year-olds had their best test scores in reading and math in three decades. The results for older students were a mixed bag and included a clear indication that more attention needs to be paid to secondary students.
On the elementary front, this seems like pretty clear evidence that the much-criticized No Child Left Behind Act has accomplished at least part of its goal. Although there were flaws in the law, especially in the way some states chose to implement it, the emphasis on concentrating on core subjects and testing to measure progress has proven to be successful.
Another result that can be partially attributed to No Child Left Behind is that the test score gap between races also is narrowing.
The increase in test scores should have a positive effect on education for years to come. If more 9-year-olds are better at reading and math, that should result in more opportunities for learning at higher grade levels and a corresponding increase in test scores as these students get older.
http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2005/07/20/news/editorials/1009069.txt
President George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” blueprint:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/reports/no-child-left-behind.html
Bush will go down in history as one of the most effective and transforming U.S. Presidents. Let’s see, the Libs have the impeached joke that was Clinton (What else did he do besides get sucked off in the Oval Office? He ran polls to determine his stance on various issues, demonized the opposition, passed on Osama Bin Laden, blathered on and on about 100,000 police officers that didn’t exist, tried to ignore his screeching dyke wife, and bombed an aspirin factory) and, of course, the abject failure Jimmy “Peanut Farmer” Carter (I can drive 55!) as their two “gems” of the last 3+ decades. We’ll take Reagan, Bush and Bush over those two awful failures any damn day of the week.
And while we’re taking something, we’ll be taking the Supreme Court, too!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> Have a happy day, tree hugging socialists!
Nothing’s FUBAR about the iBook program here.
The local newspaper seems to be floundering constantly, always in search of something with which to make news. The editors appear to be reactionaries at best, anxious to retain whatever power they can manage within the community. Without local sports and legal notices, I doubt they could survive.
To make news and to demonstrate their power, they object to what is the very best for their own children. Bombastic to extremes, in my opinion, they appear to me to thrive on superstitions, ignorances, and outright prejudices to mount a scare program to bully the public. There’s a history of such tactics here. It is a matter of public record.
Well, they once strung a guy up here at a nearby street corner. That’s about what these power brokers are trying to do to the School Board today. Reactionaries; remember this.
We remember, no, we can’t forget the KKK, either.
It’s time to drum up the right spirit here to quell these heathens. Check out the history behind the tune of “A Mighty Fortress…” and spread the word.
Oh no, not again!!! I hate to hear this kind of news!!!
Students fail because the parents are failing them. It’s not the kids fault (usually, unless he/she has a learning disability) it’s parents who are to busy with their own hobbies and goal to put time and effort into making their children go to school, pay attention, and do the work. Children can’t just be made to learn by a teacher, the child needs the parent to seed the work ethic and drive to succeed.
Why are the citizens of Cobb county getting a fair shake when it comes to the government spending their tax dollars? Here in NC our great government leaders spend my money like it’s going out of style, and there isn’t anything anyone can do about it. Except vote, which I do.
(Yes, I read the referendum. Yes, I agree with the judge. No, I don’t think they should stop the iBook program. They can find another way.)
And why does MDN draw all these crazed short-sighted left-wingers?