Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management) [LWN.net]

Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management)

Posted Sep 4, 2008 21:11 UTC (Thu) by johnkarp (guest, #39285)
In reply to: Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management) by jmorris42
Parent article: Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management)

The US government school system is run by and for the benefit of the teachers; more specifically the teacher's unions.

If thats the case, they aren't very good at it. Given how poorly teachers are paid in many areas in the US. If there's a root cause, I'd say that many communities simply don't prioritize education very highly, and are not very invested in the process. Everything else (insufficient funding, incompetent boards, ineffectual teachers) follows from that.

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Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management)

Posted Sep 5, 2008 2:07 UTC (Fri) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link]

I'll second that in a heartbeat. People in general just don't care about education, because they don't see the connection to maintaining a civilized society. If something doesn't immediately affect their paycheck, quarterly profits, or probability of hooking up with a Desirable Object of Affection(TM), it's off their radar.

Yes, I'm a cynic.

Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management)

Posted Sep 5, 2008 4:33 UTC (Fri) by PO8 (guest, #41661) [Link]

When I was a boy, my school district was about the first in the US to just shut down and refuse to open back until they received adequate funding to operate. It turned out *great*, and I wish they'd do it again.

It was funny to watch people waking up to how much they wanted and needed the schools once they started to contemplate doing without them. It was a terrible ruckus in the short run. It took about two months to reopen the schools. In the long run, there was a 10 or 15 year period where the community voted huge dollars and put huge priority on the schools.

Those were the days.