I’ll admit that when I first heard about the board’s recent
decision to require the installation of power strips in all of its system's
school buses, I was appalled.
$3,740,000 diverted
from education so that kids who already spend way too much time in front of a
screen could charge their devices?
Yeah. I don’t think so.
I was actually so upset last week when I learned about this
decision that I started an online petition against it and even went so far as
to sign up to speak at next month’s board meeting to publicly protest.
Over the
course of the past six days, however—while doing the research necessary to
prepare myself for the meeting—I have been forced to truly consider the arguments
that have been made in favor of outfitting our system’s nearly 1,600 buses.
To those of you who initially agreed with me and signed the
petition (over 12,000 signatures so far—totally blown away you guys!!) I thank
you from the bottom of my heart. Like me, I know that you only want what is
best for our children and what makes the most sense for our public education
system.
It is actually because of that desire to do what is best for
our children that I’m asking for a few more moments of your time while I
explain why I am officially withdrawing my petition and will now fully support
the measure as outlined by the school board at their meeting next month.
Here are the reasons I believe this move will actually
result in positive changes that will wind up being well worth the money:
#1 - Even in schools where PED (personal electronic device) usage
is prohibited, it is widely recognized by teachers and administrators that
students use their phones all day, every day. By the time our children get on
the bus to go home, their batteries are nearly dead and many do not have the
power they need to make it through the trip home. With the issue of battery
drainage no longer a threat, students will now be able to complete a wide
variety school assignments during their (often long) bus ride.
#2 - Studies show that introverted students realize the greatest
benefit of on-bus PED usage. When devices are not allowed or not otherwise
supported by power strips on board, social anxiety reports skyrocket.
#3 - A neighboring school system (which successfully implemented
a similar program nearly two years ago), reported a 133% decrease in fights on buses in just the first two weeks. This dramatic reduction in altercations
was maintained for over a year, resulting in the dismissal of nearly 400 bus
monitors and a savings of over $200,000. Since our system is considerably
larger, we can naturally expect our savings to increase proportionally.
#4 - Nearly 30 assistants and 20 teachers will lose their
positions due to the budget cuts necessary to cover the expense of outfitting
each bus, but if all of these employees come only from underperforming
classrooms, the loss could actually be beneficial to each school affected.
Getting bad teachers out of the classroom is always a good thing and students
will be better off in the long run.
#5 - The on-board outlets—while expensive (nearly $2,300 per
bus)—will be provide three AC/DC strips as well as three USB ports per seat
(not per row as originally proposed). This means that each student can power up to three devices if they sit two to a seat (or two if they sit three to a seat).
#6 - Students from lower-income households will now be able to
charge their iPhones, tablets and laptops without using expensive electricity and draining their family’s already tight budgets.
As you can see, the benefits for outfitting each of our
systems school buses with power strips will greatly outweigh the few negative
aspects that have surfaced in the course of recent discussions.
I hope that
each of you will strongly consider joining with me to fully support this
measure, and I also hope that you have a wonderful April Fool’s Day.
Many blessings.
L.N. Cronk
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