Tech plan shows forward thinking

We have rarely hesitated in taking the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to task for not getting very much done. There seems to be a lot of talk and a lot of planning, not to mention a lot of bond money, but not always much action. We hope that a promising plan the board approved last week turns out to be long on results.

The district’s new three-year technology plan appears to be a well-conceived, forward-thinking proposal. At its core, the plan is meant to ensure that our children are trained and expert in what’s become the central tool of our time: the computer. Under the plan, all students would be familiar with computers by the ninth grade. More specifically, the ratio of computers to students would drop to eight to one (the only way to ensure that students can become knowledgeable, after all). Importantly, 90% of teachers would be trained to incorporate computers into the classroom on a daily, regular basis ? basically mirroring the adult world of business, government, the military, etc.

“They will have better English and math scores because computers and programs bring in other skills,” board president David Brooks told the Pilot. “The ability to use a computer involves lots of reading. The information available to them increases their comprehension in a format this generation is very used to.”

If the proposal meets Brooks’ expectations, the Newport-Mesa school district will produce graduates ready and capable of excelling in our high-tech world.

There are some obvious hurdles, though. The funding for the proposal is still up in the air. It could come from bond money or private and federal grants. Or it may come from the district’s general fund, a possibility that is disturbing if it means other programs have to suffer for the sake of computers. And it’s already notoriously difficult to plan ahead when it comes to how technology will develop. By the end of the plan’s three years, there is no telling what the high-tech landscape will look like.

Still, Newport-Mesa parents and students are fortunate that school leaders are trying to figure it out now. The alternative certainly is worse. We all should hope they ? and thus our students ? succeed.