IMO, schools that are struggling to pay teachers should turn off the Internet.
I was put in a position with a school system in which they wanted to upgrade to VoIP and also upgrade the network. They had already made some poor choices in platforms, telecommunication companies and partners. They were looking for my company to come in and help them spend a lot of money. But the school system was already cash strapped, closing schools and laying off teachers and they were spending some $200K/month in telecommunication bills for voice and data.
They wanted me to install a Cisco VoIP system for the entire school. I told them there was real no ROI to do that because they were already in a long-term contract for huge WAN circuits with the telecommunication provider. But they wanted to do it anyway.
The way I see it is that Internet and fancy phones for a school system are not necessary to a kid’s education. If a school system is so strapped for cash that they cannot pay teachers and need to close schools, it is time to remove the Internet and network that they are paying for and look to save money.
So, I told the CIO that it would be best to keep the phone system he has, and work with telco to reduce or turn off the Internet links he has to save money. No telecommunications company will want bad press for keeping a cash strapped school system in a contract when they cannot pay teachers. He quipped that if he did that, then they would not need him or his staff. I quipped back, “It’s an education or the Internet.” He didn’t like that and said he would work with another company, which I agreed was fine with me.
Yes, I didn’t do Cisco any good and lost money on a deal, but I can sleep at night knowing I did the right thing. The way I look at a problem like this is that every school system that is losing money and cannot pay for teachers and schools should eliminate the Internet and many of the other MIS functions, maybe even turn off the network. Teach with the books and kids will still learn. Teachers can use the Internet at home to send e-mails to parents.
My generation did not have the Internet or all of these MIS functions when we went to school and we all turned out ok.
Would you have done the same thing?
