“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
Yes, of course this is the very first time any government has ever passed a tax claiming it was for one purpose and then using it for another.
Get screwed OnlyMacs.
Good decision why don’t you cry babies by your own computer for your kids. Not only do I have to pay for the school the teacher and the books now you want me to buy the video game machine. Get real 6 grade kids will lose the computer, or some of the enterprising youths will go in the used (hot ) computer business.
“because school leaders did not tell Cobb County voters what they wanted to do with a voter-approved special sales tax,”
uhm… there was no agreement to release that information..
the monies were ALREADY APPROOVED..
This Judge is obviously paid off or just plain stupid.. or controled by local politics from someone who is paid off or just plain stsupid..
“…It’s to bad that are childrens education has to be slowed down because every idiot with an opinion…”
Holy crap – anyone who writes a sentence like that has no business even discussing education –
FUBAR is similar to SNAFU- Situation Normal All Fukked Up which is what has happened here!
Wasn’t this the case where the money would go to replace “obsolete workstations”, and they decided to replace them with laptops. And now some say that they weren’t informed that laptops will go to every kid. But what’s the difference with buying iMacs and eMacs or iBooks? Seems to me some just weren’t that happy with the “obsolete workstations” being replaced with Apple computers. Or do these people just have genuine preference for computer labs over laptops in the regular classroom – if so, then their call is justified. But I wonder, would this case also exist if the “obselete workstations” would be replaced with regular PC laptops from Dell or HP?
Does anyone believe that this judge would have even opened it’s mouth if these were Dell machines ?
BOTTOM LINE: There is a tanker load of “money” out there protecting Microsoft & Dell through channels you cannot imagine. Follow the money trail.
These school districts around the country spend money like water. No one says a word 95% of the time. Notice all the Apple laptop backlash lately ? Not a coincidence my friend.
Don’t get too high and mighty “Educational Experts” . If anyone actually gave a darn…there would be no band, no sports, no stupid trips to Europe…it would be small schools, many more of them I might add…a “one room school house atmosphere” where kids would be taught by people who had earned the right to teach…topics would be politically neutral…technical issues would reign supreme. Actually learning would be the goal. Kids would not be built up in some self-esteem workshop, but would be trained to speak, write, calculate…etc.
This is all Political/Money/Lobbying garbage.
The whole system is on a pogo-stick, with circus music in the background.
>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.>
It’s the bloody unions, stupid. Give all parents/kids a voucher, then we’ll see the education of the kids thrive and get back to where it was before the unions decimated it. Tenure my rear end.
Bring corporal punishment back and discipline the precious kids, and their soft parents.
Verbose (formally The Duke),
I agree with you, parents are failing their kids on the education front. My wife is an elementary school teacher and she spends so much time dealing with issues parents either will not address or refuse to acknowledge.
She is also furious at the teachers that coast through their days to retirement. The “it’s the unions’ fault” is a cop-out to taking personal responsibility.
In my town, the taxpayers were furious about spending more money on schools about 10 years ago – until a bunch of them were dragged into classrooms on a rainy day and witnessed the dozen or so buckets collecting water leaking through roofs, the water-stained walls, and generally crappy conditions that they wouldn’t work in themselves. Magically, the taxpayers started to turn their attention to their schools.
However, it is the taxpayers who bear ultimate resonsibility. Spend some tim to get to know your childrens’ schools and teachers. Search out the good ones and pressure the bad ones. It’s hard work, but nobody said being a good parent was easy.
Those poor Southern kids.
And American public education falls further behind, as politics rolls through the classroom like an ugly steamroller.
But it’s not all depressing. I mean, at least they can still read about evolution in their school books, right?
Right?
The problem is not politics, or the unions, or the parents, or any of those ideas. The problem, if you can call it that, is that the priorities of our societies have changes. Wisdom, knowledge, respect, dignity, artistry, and other great society-building ideals are no longer important.
So, what is important today? BLING! That’s what’s important. “How do I get to the money? What’s the shortest route to the money?” Screw improvement. “I want MORE! And I want it to be flashy and impressive and better than yours.” That’s what the kids are focused on today, because that’s what we’ve taught them. Our mantra in the 20th Century (and now the 21st) that getting an education leads to better jobs is very narrow and is simply about money.
Any questions, class?
It is funny that these people want accountability, yet they helped re-elect G.W. Bush and his gang.
“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…….blablabla”
What a big BUSHel of Fascist Fries !!!! You neo-cons and your Corporate Communists will lie about the results like you and your President lie about everything, do I hear impeachment sounds?, remember there are lies, damned dirty lies and then there is republican double speak. You can get numbers to say anything you want especially when you control every aspect of a program and that’s exactly what you fascists do. Hell you even PAY off supposed neutral pundits to sing the praises of such a corrupt machination to steal public moneys for their conservative corporate welfare bums.
Anyways these Americans are soooo egotist that their own children’s needs are just a burden to them and why not they are perfectly ok with the prospect of handing them in to the Bush crime family as cannon fodder for their bloody oil money.
Just the damned truth.
“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”
Thank you Kate, I was not “rambling” about iBook-advocates but your brand of totally ignorant red state religious neo-fascist drivel we occasionally read on these feedback pages. The fact is that what was the bastion of progressive democracy in the world “America” has been hijacked by an oligarchy of criminals that stretch all the way back to the Nixon administration and maybe back further. Their and your delusional mind set of the “self made man” and “freedom at all costs” and “no tax is a good tax” is just neofascist propaganda made to protect the Corporate Communists right to make self destructive profits no matter who dies. Wake up and smell the corpses.
The damned truth.
Hi all,
Intelligent Design My Ass is correct. A little time spent on Google confirms that the same Cobb County is responsible for both the iBook fiasco and for one of the many debates on Creationism versus Evolution. Why must people be so afraid of ideas? If children are exposed to both ideas, then they can form their own opinions… what a concept!
Concerning the iBook issue, I smell the stink of a money trail leading back to Dell and/or Microsoft (as another poster here has already suggested).
Regarding whether or not the South is as behind the Times as a taxicab behind a magazine truck, please read this article from CNN’s archives:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/05/02/separate.proms.ap/
Best Regards,
Linuxlover
I smell a rat!
Hi all,
Oops… make that a newspaper truck. :~)
Regards,
Linuxlover
Good bye Supt. Joe Redden, Asst. Supt Beers, and CIO Kimberly Quinn. You had a chance to improve the world and you blew it…
This could also be SNAFU…. or TARFU…
The moanings of self-loathing haters like Slyrobber is why the the Left in the country is on the rapid decline. Talk about living in denial!
A person who doesn’t even know what the word “Fascist” (c.f. nationalistic socialism) means but slings the term around with abandon, doesn’t merit even the slightest consideration from the serious thinkers who peruse these pages. Let me give you a little lesson Sly. NeoCons (not to mention real Conservatives) are generally all about giving parents CHOICE in what school to which they send their children. OTOH, a Fascist would be more interested in nationalized public education. Fascists love anything State controlled. Even better if they can do it while vociferously proclaiming their patriotism (which everyone around them knows is just faux).
NeoCons and their conservative cousins would be most interested in making sure that if they have to pay into a State controlled “education” system that at least it should teach the basics first and then if there is money left teach the Earthday/AIDS awareness/Republicans are evil/nationalized health care is good/we evolved from monkeys crap after that then so be it. But noooo. The folks who control State sponsored education institutions can’t abide an educated citizenry. If they allow that then they would never win an election, get a judge appointed, or generally control anything but Warner Bros. and Apple Computer.
The Left needs to wise up. The majority of Americans are wise to your antics! We don’t like your public education programs, we don’t like your nationalized/socialized health care programs, we don’t like the MoveOn histrionics, the “Bushite” loony conspiracy theories, the endless blathering about “non-existent” WMDs (when everyone with a brain knows that Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and Syria all had or have them), we don’t buy it anymore (if we ever did).
The quality of public education in this country is seriously declining and it has been doing so, not under Bush but under the dominance of the Left. So get over yourselves Sly and GSpank. You are losing the battle of ideas and you prove it everyday with the comical anti-Bush diatribes. Public education will not be helped by a few iBooks. Of course, it will be further HINDERED if those are Thinkpads but that is a different issue.
Private education and charter schools are the solution. Yes, the free market. It works for higher education and it will work for K-12. The only thing that is lost by going this direction is that the Left no longer can mandate children to regurgitate Al Franken musings. Other than that, there is no downside. A democracy can only survive if it has educated and virtuous citizens. The current public education quagmire contributes to neither of these attributes.
And THAT’S the real truth.
-D
P.S. Sly and G, feel free to ignore the advice above. The Right is winning precisely because of the kind of hatred and bigotry embodied in your posts.
I can’t believe that no one has told the poor guy what FUBAR is…
F’ed
Up
Beyond
All
Recognition
Well here come the right wing brown shirts. It was just a matter of time before they came around to spew their ignorant diatribe about something they live every day but obviously know nothing about. First look up fascism in an unbiased dictionary. Please nothing “American” for even dictionaries have been modified to fit the conservative frame of mind today. Fascism from the Italian “Fascismo”, is a “RIGHT-WING” system of government characterized by extreme nationalistic beliefs (GO USA) and strict obedience to a leader (four more years, BUSH) or state.
Oxford dictionary of current english.
Sorry dude your right wing 1984-ish double speak doesn’t work here. Stop pushing your Corporate Communist agenda at the expense of your own children’s future. NO cost is too great for THAT you egotist self centered avarist. Except human life itself. THAT’S reserved for your buddies oil blood money right ?
P.S. The grip of your FASCIST cronies is fast coming to an end we “Left Wing Winers” or is that winners are in office everywhere in the world that have REAL democracy and Liberty at heart. That’s why most if not all of the world loathes America. Well at least it’s slurried government and the ones that support and encourages it. Remember Nixon ? HE also thought he would never get caught. His crimes were mere misdemeanors compared to the crimes against humanity this gang of thugs and miscreants are perpetrating. Your times will come, the Canadian head of the international crimes tribunal has lots of work ahead of her if there is ANY sort of justice in this world.
Wake up and smell the corpses.
THAT’s THE DAMNED DIRTY TRUTH !!!
via MacDailyNews.com
Sly,
I laugh at your pseudointellectual attempt to redefine what constitutes fascism. Most modern dictionaries define fascism as “right wing” because modern dictionaries originate in left-wing universities where they imagine their brand of government as non-totalitarian. As Hillary once put it, “socialism has gotten a bad rap because the right people haven’t tried it”. Hmm, I wonder who the “right” person would be?
The modern political definition of Left and Right is Left = more State control, Right = less State control. Thus, the far right would be people who do not believe in ANY government (i.e. anarchists) while the far left would be people who believe in total State control (i.e. totalitarianism).
I don’t buy the label that “right wing”=total state control as it is not born out in modern political discourse. Talk to any conservative or libertarian and you will find that, to a person, they are backers of limited government. This belief is the defining characteristic of modern conservatism. On the other hand, Fascism is a form of socialism with a nationalistic twist. This is not precise but it does closely describes the modern Left in Europe and the U.S. If fascism was limited to a definition of nationalism with a “strict obedience to a leader” then we would have to consider Democrats under Clinton to be fascists (possible), the and certainly all Americans under George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to be fascists (not possible). However, the defining characteristic of fascism is its promotion of an all-powerful federal government, something that Oxford conveniently leaves out (which is just one more reason we know that their definition was written by a lefty).
What makes for a fascist is that they believe in an all powerful State that controls all aspects of a person’s life and then wraps that in an elitist attitude that says that their control of our lives through government edict is really the best for the country. Find me a conservative ANYWHERE who is interested in an over-reaching Statist system of government. OTOH, who came up with the ADA, the public ed system, the endangered species act, Kyoto, and the recent public takings decision on the supreme court? Who wants to raise taxes, take our money to give to others who did not earn it, fund the NEA, pass more land use restrictions, ban smoking, etc. etc. etc? Not conservatives, that’s for sure. That is the stuff of fascism, something we are trying to turn around despite your efforts. The Europeans like to call it “democratic socialism” but a rose by any other name still has thorns. Yes, we know that the Left loves to redefine the term Fascism but that dog just won’t hunt.
Sly, you can call us brown shirts all day long but it’s clear you’re simply projecting (and by the way, it is also an admission that you’ve lost the argument). Calling someone a NAZI should generally be reserved for people espousing NAZI beliefs. Find me a conservative who is promoting an all powerful government, or who wants to see the destruction of Israel, or who would like to see the government take over private business. If you can find one then we’ll talk. Until then, methinks you doest protest too much.
Good day,
-Beeblebrox
P.S. I don’t understand your “Corporate Communist” comments. It makes no sense. Communists and Fascists are both oriented toward nationalizing corporate interests (the greatest fear of small and large business alike) so this “insult” is a lame non-sequitur. Furthermore, all it takes is a quick look at the funding sources for the respective major parties to see that small and medium sized businesses are the primary funding groups behind the GOP while large corporations keep the Donks alive. This makes sense if you think about it. As long as the GOP remains the party of limited government then small and medium sized businesses will continue to support the it. If the GOP goes the way of the Dems and starts punishing small business then the support dollars will dry up. Meanwhile large corporations are always looking to consolidate their control of their respective markets and this is often best done by seeing that your competition is regulated out of existence.
What I never read about in relation to all these laptop initiatives is what planning is actually put into what is going to be done with them irrespective of who provides them.
It’s all well and good providing all this tech but if they’re just gonna plonk them down in front of the kids and teachers what is the point? To me it’s got to be something more involved than people just being able to wordprocess stuff, there needs to be proper intranet support, a proper email contact structure.
Apple would surely have the lead with the advanced way in which all their stuff can network and integrate but I don’t get the feeling that any manufacturer or in turn the schools are really doing anything with these machines.
I hope I’m wrong but really these school boards need to put more effort into what they’re then going to do with machines (irrespective of who provides them) before they then write the thing off.