Rhetoric vs. Reality Redux

With the lies coming so thick and fast, it is hard to keep up. Here are some reactions to the SOTU education initiatives that seem to have forgotten how technology might figure in to the U. S. becoming leaders in, er, technology. From eSchool News:

"We are deeply disappointed that the administration has chosen, once again, to eliminate federal funding for educational technology," said Don Knezek, chief executive officer for the International Society for Technology in Education. "Understanding and using technology are critical components of all students' academic careers and, most certainly, barometers of their future employment prospects. Given the president's emphasis in the State of the Union on the importance of developing math and science skills in America's students in order to keep America competitive globally, we do not see how eliminating federal educational technology funding advances his global competitiveness agenda or helps our students."

"While the governments of other nations--from the United Kingdom and Australia to Singapore, Japan, and China--believe that educational technology serves as the engine for their educational reform efforts, our federal leaders appear to believe otherwise," said Keith Krueger, chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). "All evidence points to the fact that our states and school districts consistently use federal educational technology dollars to improve student achievement in core curricular areas such as math and science and to engage in professional development--the central pillars of No Child Left Behind and of the president's new science and math initiatives. The administration's lack of leadership on this issue will not only inhibit student achievement but will have serious ramifications for the future of this country."