Every day, students file into a computer class at Surrattsville High School that is taught without computers, without enough textbooks, and with no permanent teacher, reports the Washington Post. The struggle to find a qualified computer teacher at the Prince George’s County, Md., school, just a dozen miles from an education department that is investing millions in science and technology education, shows the basic problems that schools face even as school-reform rhetoric increases. A teacher who was supposed to teach the computer technology class has been on extended medical leave, and the school system has had trouble finding a substitute with an adequate technology background, school officials said. Some of the 150 students in the course’s six sections say they’ve had to teach themselves out of the book, but the classroom doesn’t have enough books to go around. Students spent the first quarter with computers, but no assignments or textbooks. Then the computers were removed because the long-term substitute was unable to control the class and some students were damaging the equipment, students said. The experience has frustrated parents and students…
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