On April 2nd of last week, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 in favor for the sale of $21 million worth of bonds. This sale will help clear the way for Coachella Valley School District’s technology upgrade. The upgrade will include making iPads available to every student. The Coachella Valley residents voted last year in November and approved Measure X, which allows for a $41 million issuance.
Bringing CVUSD into 21st century learning is aggressively being pursued. CVUSD has approximately 18,000 students, and every one will be getting an iPad under Measure X. Eventually, teachers will be receiving laptops and the schools will provide wireless connectivity under the same measure. CVUSD will incur debt to purchase the promised iPads, laptops, wireless connectivity, and any other technological upgrades to the district. The debt is planned to be paid off through the sale of the school bonds and other future endeavors. School bonds are sold in blocks of $5000 with interest caped at 6 percent. Small increases in taxes will also hit the CVUSD locals, such as business owners will pay an additional $30 per $100,000 of assessed value on their properties.
CVUSD has stepped up to their students’ needs. Technology is a valuable and needed tool in the classroom today. Technology is an integrated part of our existence. Yes, we can live without it, but to have a successful future in any business or endeavor, technology must play a part. Many of you may have noticed how your kids can work your cell phone better than you could change the channel on your television when you were their age. This phenomenon is because technology is a part of our lives now more than ever before. My youngest daughter cannot make complete sentences yet, but she knows and understands how to unlock my phone, search through my apps, start YouTube, and watch the Mickey Mouse Club.
Technology helps our students focus. In my math classes, my students are fully involved when I use technology to teach a math lesson. If I teach how I was taught, my students would either fall asleep or become distracted. Regardless, my students would not be fully involved and lose valuable information and skills. We need technology in the classrooms of today and future classrooms for every subject. Our kids relate to technology, so let’s relate technology to education.
