• Do schools needlessly spend money?
    172 replies, posted
I've noticed that, sometimes, schools needlessly spend assloads of money. They'll buy something that they don't need, and be saying that they don't have enough money for other things. For example, this year my school district bought EVERY teacher MacBooks and iPads, but they had to cut busing to get children who have been identified as gifted (insanely smart) to where a gifted class takes place. By every teacher, I mean EVERY. They got the chorus director this stuff, the gym teacher got this too. They don't have a need for it. So, do you think that schools, in general, spend needless money?
I thought the money for iPads and the like couldn't be spent on useful stuff anyway.
My school bought two plasma screen tvs recently. not used at all.
My ICT tech room has about 10 iMacs. there's only 2 ict technicians. what the fuck do they need that many imacs for?
A few years ago, my school bought like 7 or 8 smartboards and they're not used at all, except for the projectors occasionally. Meanwhile, people from different classrooms come into other classrooms and ask if they have any extra chairs and/or tables they could borrow. We also have a need for more classrooms. There are classes with at least 40 people in them and most classrooms are almost always occupied, leaving some teachers and their class spending valuable time looking for an available room. So yes, there are schools that spend money on useless expensive things while they could use it on something that's actually needed.
[QUOTE=J. Jett;32831317]A few years ago, my school bought like 7 or 8 smartboards and they're not used at all, except for the projectors occasionally. Meanwhile, people from different classrooms come into other classrooms and ask if they have any extra chairs and/or tables they could borrow. We also have a need for more classrooms. There are classes with at least 40 people in them and most classrooms are almost always occupied, leaving some teachers and their class spending valuable time looking for an available room. So yes, there are schools that spend money on useless expensive things while they could use it on something that's actually needed.[/QUOTE] Same here, we've got these huge "whiteboards" as they call them, they have touch delay, constantly requires updates and are a pain in the ass to configure. They are put up in front of the normal chalk board so they only take up space since nobody is using them. Money could've totally been used elsewhere. We for example have two toilets that are missing their seats.
Well I don't know how it works exactly in the US, but over here in France they have budgets that are given for each 'dept.' as in, let's say Computers, Books or the Cantine. They can't transfer money from one to the other. Which I think is completely unadapted and really shouldn't work like that.
My school recently invested in 30 macs, that money could be used to get 2, or even 3 times as many better computers the shitty IT rooms have now. So in my opinion, yes. [editline]17th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=FPSMango;32832419]Same here, we've got these huge "whiteboards" as they call them, they have touch delay, constantly requires updates and are a pain in the ass to configure. They are put up in front of the normal chalk board so they only take up space since nobody is using them. Money could've totally been used elsewhere. We for example have two toilets that are missing their seats.[/QUOTE] We have these smartboards, except they're used every lesson, some departments don't have them.
Well for one my school runs the AC all the time, I mean it gets so fucking cold. There is no reason to have it running constantly. Wouldn't shutting it off save them some money?
[QUOTE=Bytecry;32831018]My ICT tech room has about 10 iMacs. there's only 2 ict technicians. what the fuck do they need that many imacs for?[/QUOTE] We also have 2 IT technicians, whenever there is a problem they literally come in, unlock where the computers are and restart it, hey, head teacher, how about employ some fucking monkeys they'd do a better job [editline]17th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Angry Pineapple;32833809]Well for one my school runs the AC all the time, I mean it gets so fucking cold. There is no reason to have it running constantly. Wouldn't shutting it off save them some money?[/QUOTE] Thursday in Science. Teacher: "Well, the school is investing in new boards, so that means we can't turn the heating on for a while." We aren't all rats like you we don't hibernate
[QUOTE=FPSMango;32832419]Same here, we've got these huge "whiteboards" as they call them, they have touch delay, constantly requires updates and are a pain in the ass to configure. They are put up in front of the normal chalk board so they only take up space since nobody is using them. Money could've totally been used elsewhere. We for example have two toilets that are missing their seats.[/QUOTE] Wait your school still uses chalkboards?
My high school bought iPads for every single student + teacher, and it's got an entire computer lab filled with some pretty good computers for the Game Design class. Although the high school 10 miles away from this one hasn't seen an upgrade to anything in years
Yeah there is nothing behind the scenes that they need to do at all
I can't see how schools can justify their software expenses here. Mine has licenses for load of different versions of MS office and a hundred odd unused Windows XP keys, along with Vista. Why aren't they using functionally equivalent, free, open source software like libre office? That's not even bringing in the video muscles, CAD and photo software they have.
[QUOTE=jlj1;32833932]Yeah there is nothing behind the scenes that they need to do at all[/QUOTE]You can't just say that. Gotta have your reasons/proof. Schools do needlessly spend money, you can't really counter it unless you(r parents) get a letter telling you everything the school spends. [editline]17th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Terminutter;32833937]I can't see how schools can justify their software expenses here. Mine has licenses for load of different versions of MS office and a hundred odd unused Windows XP keys, along with Vista. Why aren't they using functionally equivalent, free, open source software like libre office? That's not even bringing in the video muscles, CAD and photo software they have.[/QUOTE] IT - Basically making databases and one logo has Photoshop CS5 Graphics - Modelling, making images, editing images has extensions or whatever that worse version that is still CS5 but isn't as good. I mean, what the fuck
My old secondary school bought a shittone of iPads and iMacs. And they are only using iMovie. Seriously, they could have not bought the awful computers, and bought DECENT editing software for windows.
My school added a whole new wing to the building, and they're in the process of upgrading all the computers in the school to Core i5 machines sold by HP. (whoops!) Meanwhile, we're still using 20 year textbooks, there are tons of broken desks/chairs, and teachers can't even get extra supplies.
[QUOTE=Lyoko774;32834183]My school added a whole new wing to the building, and they're in the process of upgrading all the computers in the school to Core i5 machines sold by HP. (whoops!) Meanwhile, we're still using 20 year textbooks, there are tons of broken desks/chairs, and teachers can't even get extra supplies.[/QUOTE] HP you say? Well, if it goes like every HP I've ever had does... the hard drives will fail in 8 months and the school won't be smart enough to just replace the hard drives and get them fully replaced instead.
My school put up a 55-inch TV in the main building just to play a powerpoint of the days announcements. They also installed around 150 security cameras when there hasn't been a case of vandalism or anything illegal going on in school grounds in many years. And the drama club was shut down due to lack of funding.
My school invested in an entire lab of Mac computers... That were set up like shit, so a student hacked in and was able to access all of the accounts. They had to get other students to fix it. The PCs? Still running Windows XP, with Internet Explorer 7, or some version of FireFox.
back when i was in high school the amount of money they spent on the foot ball team compared to the band was ridiculous. Almost every year the foot ball team would get new everything (maybe for safety concerns with upgrade helmets? idk) the band was stuck on a shitty field with a tower that was falling apart and all kinds of other instrument issues and broken bells...the list goes on forever. We had to fund raise to get any amount of money and were not given any money from the concession stands during foot ball games even though we were there playing.
[QUOTE=surfur;32834380]back when i was in high school the amount of money they spent on the foot ball team compared to the band was ridiculous. Almost every year the foot ball team would get new everything (maybe for safety concerns with upgrade helmets? idk) the band was stuck on a shitty field with a tower that was falling apart and all kinds of other instrument issues and broken bells...the list goes on forever. We had to fund raise to get any amount of money and were not given any money from the concession stands during foot ball games even though we were there playing.[/QUOTE] lol screw you, here our football team (i play) has to use 11 year old jerseys and equipment. We once used 'throwback' jerseys that weren't reproductions of what used to be worn, but the actual uniforms from 1982. Our stuff was older than we were!
[QUOTE=commander204;32832422]Well I don't know how it works exactly in the US, but over here in France they have budgets that are given for each 'dept.' as in, let's say Computers, Books or the Cantine. They can't transfer money from one to the other. Which I think is completely unadapted and really shouldn't work like that.[/QUOTE]I'm pretty sure its the same way (in the private school I went to, that's how it was for sure). Probably to prevent abuse of school funding all going into one dept. Only bad thing is when the department doesn't exactly NEED that that much money. Then you get random purchases like the OP mentioned, even though other departments would kill for that money.
At my old High School, money would be wasted on smartboards that would always go through problems. Almost all the teachers who got to use one didn't know how to correctly operate or troubleshoot them. Almost every damn day, a teacher would be using one for math problems or chemistry equations for a few minutes until they tried doing multiple things at once (eg. 2-3 things at the same moment) and then the screen would freeze up. Then, said teacher would spend the rest of class trying to fix the problem, instead of teaching, and the class would get restless. I suggested to one teacher that he should spend a few minutes trying to fix it, and if he couldn't, to just switch over to the dry-erase/chalkboard. Instead, he just ignored me and spent the next 40 minutes tapping away at the board while the class went wild, or fell asleep. I only know of two teachers that didn't have this problem, the tech expert (who only used the smartboard during one of his classes) and the chemistry teacher (who only ever used the chalk board.) Also, things that are a waste of money: - Brand new computers being bought for kids who can't even respect the older models (drawing on them, breaking them, pouring liquids into the fans, that kind of stuff.) - Smartboards (in many situations I've come across, valuable school money goes to smartboards instead of fixing up the school/repairing damaged things/improving school lunches/getting rid of the rats and roaches/[u]useful things[/u]) - Cleaning up the football field (When not even the caretakers can clean up whatever mess that students leave behind)
Considering how 9.7 million dollars "disappeared" last year from my school's budget, I can only answer this question with yes.
Meanwhile in Texas, every school district's budget has been snipped.
[QUOTE=ItazukiShi;32831008]My school bought two plasma screen tvs recently. not used at all.[/QUOTE] Every classroom in my school has a fucking plasma screen.
[QUOTE=Bytecry;32831018]My ICT tech room has about 10 iMacs. there's only 2 ict technicians. what the fuck do they need that many imacs for?[/QUOTE] I wonder why all schools buy Macs. Don't they know that those are more expensive?
There were all kinds of problems with my old school district. For one, the board approved a motion to tear down the old (and perfectly functional, mind) football stadium at the central campus and rebuild it. For $13 million dollars. I believe the FBI got involved with fraud/corruption charges at some point, considering the project was supposed to cost "only" $8 million. The district was one of the largest in the city, so it's no surprise that they had those kind of funds, but on the other hand: 1. My old high school had a lack of utilities, poor sanitation, understaffing, and teachers were paid extremely little and often had to buy their own supplies. There were fights every day and several break-ins over the course of the year. AP/advanced classes didn't really have anyone really qualified to teach them. The district had to split the campus in two in order to solve overcrowding. One half was eventualy turned into a middle school, forcing all of the current students onto one campus. I think with a lot of public school districts it's not a matter of not having enough/having too much money as much as it is not having priorities in order, or any oversight to how that money is spent. It's not that people minded the district spending so much moneybut that they were spending it on frivolous things. There were so many things that the money could've gone to that would have improved the school so much, but for some reason football was deemed the #1 priority. Thankfully I was only there for one year, but the gross negligence displayed by the district towards its students was still absolutely sickening.
I remember my government/economics teacher in high school would go on rants often about corruption in the school board. The problem with all the wasted money on unnecessary items are caused by terrible mismanagement. Now I'm not sure how it works in other districts, but in my school district, you didn't need a degree or anything to become "head custodian" and paid >$100k/year for teaching janitors how to clean toilets; just the right dicks to suck. Meanwhile, teachers need at least a BA to be even qualified to teach, and get paid dirt cheap because the school district pays a "head custodian" >$100k/year to teach janitors for a couple days of the year.
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