Suburban School Luxury

I just got my license to be a substitute in my old high school district. Since I received the actual license and was called in to work this coming Friday, I finally decided to open "Substitute Teacher Handbook" I was given when I initially interviewed. One page of the Handbook is called "Laptop Computer Rules for Substitute Teachers."

I was reading the instructions (typically dealing with preventing students from playing games or watching inappropriate material) before I realized something: the instructions weren't talking about students bringing their personal laptops to school (the way many students at Montclair do), but it was referring to laptops that are provided to each student by the school. I'm not entirely sure how this system works (perhaps I'll figure it out when I sub there) but based on the instructions in the handbook, it appears that this district hands out laptops similar to text books: students get them at the beginning of the year, use them at will, and return them in June.

I found this to be particularly interesting, given how we're discussing all the economic disadvantages of urban schools in the Anyon book, yet here is a situation where a district apparently has so much money at their disposal schools are able to provide approximately 1000 students with laptops. Just an example of the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' that kind of hit home for me.