I want to wtite a letter to as many of my district reps as well as Ms. Hull
and anyone else I can find. Letter writing and Grammar are not my strong
suits! If any of the Pluggers would like to help me compose this letter I
would greatly appreciate it. I would like it to be a form letter that we all
can use. I have a vested interest in this topic as I am a father of three
children two of which are in school.
I really want this to have substance and show the value of alternative
Operating systems and thinking.
My thoughts so far,
I am deeply concerned about what I have read at
http://computerworld.com/storyba/0,4125,NAV47_STO63338,00.html
Regarding implementing Microsoft Office in all schools for $172 million
dollars. Not to mention that this is an ongoing expense.
I fail to see the benifit this will provide for my Kindergarten and second
grade students of Indian Bend Elementary. I have multiple computers in my
home that I could to teach them to use Microsoft office. What I can't teach
them is music, one of the programs that they (Indian Bend students) do not
have on a regular basis. I think the music, art and PE programs have been
reduced to bi-weekly or less. I think the money used for the Office rollout
would have been better spent on the quality and variety of learnig
experiences our students are offered.
There are also alternatives to Microsoft Office that are free to download
and use such as Star Office offerd by Sun Systems at,
http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/5.2/get/get.html
Star Office also has the ability to run on the Linux operating system which
is also free to download and use on as many computers as you like.
*This is a topic I would really like to stress with the groups knowledge and
approval.*
I am a member of the Phoenix Linux User Group, PLUG,
http://plug.phoenix.az.us/. Myself and other members of the group would be
more than happy to assist and possibly even support and administer the
installation, use and adaptation of the Linux operating system in our schools.
Thank you,
John Wheat
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