They know the technology's out there. They're hungry for it" (Boubion 1A).
The experience at Cupertino points up some of the problems, which are highlighted because while Cupertino is one of the more advanced school districts in terms of technology, even that is not sufficient. In 1991, a grant by the National Science Foundation gave $1.2 million to three school districts nationwide--Cupertino; Nashville, Tennessee, and Columbus, Ohio--so they could buy Apple computers for every pupil in one class at each grade level, kindergarten through sixth. Additional grants helped place at least one computer in every classroom in the 22 schools in the Cupertino district. At one school--Kennedy Junior High--a parent donated another $5,000 in networking software for the computer lab, and Pacific Bell gave the school a low rate of $250 per month for phone access to the Internet. This made the ratio of computers to one for every eight students.
All these gifts have brought the ratio of computers to one for every eight students. For California as a whole, however, the situation is much less developed. California has technological riches, but the state ranks 49th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the number of students per computer, standing behind even the poor Southern states of Louisiana and Mississippi, based on a survey by the Denver-based Quality Education Data. The statewide ratio in California is one computer for nearly 20 students, compared with the national average of one for 14. Among the reasons for this problem are California's large class sizes and huge student population, but other populous states such as Texas and Florida have achieved more. Texas schools have one computer for every 13 students, and Florida one for every 11. In the San Francisco area, schools face problems including too few phone lines and electrical outlets and little or no money to train teachers in how to use technology (
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