D.C. PARENTS AND CHILDREN RALLY FOR SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY FUNDING
85 Million Dollars for School Modernization At Stake – Students Deserve Better
Turner at Green Elementary School 1500 Mississippi Ave., SE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Holding candles in CD Rom’s to symbolize technology shortcomings in city schools Over 100 D.C. school students and parents rallied at Turner at Green Elementary School in S.E. Washington. The students chanted, “My school needs the other apples” as they held the candles.
Former technology teacher Toval Rolston shared technology horror stories, “I’ve been in D.C. schools where the computers are so antiquated that you can’t even download a basic pdf file; our children don’t have the tools to compete in today’s high tech world.”
D.C. Schools would receive 85 million dollars to prepare students for the 21st century through a provision of the American Jobs Act that will help lessen the local technology divide and give District children a better chance at competing for jobs later in life. The U.S. Senate votes on the measure in the coming weeks. At Turner at Green Elementary children have access to a computer lab but school sources tell OurDC, the lab has no teacher. The Jobs Act provision would also create 1100 school modernization jobs.
The contrast between educational outcomes and life prospects between the rich and poor is stark: west of the Potomac River, virtually all students will go to college, while east of the Anacostia River, only 1 in 20 make it to higher education.