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The following is posted anonymously, at the author's request, a comment about my posting about schools becoming ISPs using public funds. >You might want to post (I'd rather stay anonymous) a question about >the several million$'s that the educational service centers (ESC) are >spending of public monies to become ISP's. It has been done specifically >with TIF and TEA public funds and without competetive bidding. Several of >the ESC's are in a relationship with a single private provider who is >using his public education clients to build a statewide commercial >backbone. It make anything that our friend at ACC consider seem quite >small. ;-)
In general, I'm disgusted with the whole notion of TIF (isn't that slang for a "fight" or "brawl"). When funds are finally allocated for technology (rightly or wrongly, via TIF) it is put up for competitive grants instead of equally distributed to all schools. I haven't seen a single idea on this list, or in any other technology forum, so brilliant as to drive all public technology expenditures and warrant the TIF bureaucracy's "guidance". We are now talking about distributing laptops to all students in the state. Apparently, equal funding is OK as long as the expenditure is an idea that is sanctioned by TIF. I won't play TIF's competition game and will never apply for a TIF grant. Fortunately, I am no longer a District technology administrator and can afford to ignore the mess the State has created.
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