EDITORIAL: More waste as CPS prepares everyone for 'Google2CPS', then pulls last minute switch
I am sorry to say that, once again, CPS has wasted not only its money but the time and effort of its employees and students through its poor communication, ever-changing policies, inadequate planning, and careless decision making.
Less than five weeks after his first Board of Education meeting as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago's public schools, Jean-Claude Brizard (above at the Board's June 15, 2011, special meeting) has ordered a halt to the already tested Google@CPS project. Brizard's move raises concerns that he is already tinkering with major contracts in order to favor friends and punish enemies of City Hall in the enormously expensive education contract games Chicago plays. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Earlier this year employees were informed that CPS would switch from its current outdated communication and collaboration system (FirstClass) to Google@CPS. “After several months of evaluations, presentations, testing and approvals”, CPS made the official announcement in February. 80% of evaluators — including high school and elementary teachers, central office staff, and citywide employees — chose the GoogleApps suite over Windows Live.
The CEO himself, Terry Mazany, sent out an email to every employee announcing the April switch as “a huge next step toward connecting each of you, whether you are a principal, teacher, student, or parent through low-cost access to 21st century educational tools”. According to a CPS survey, 90 percent of employees thought Google@CPS was a step in the right direction. CPS even encouraged teachers to sign up for the Google Teacher Academy in Seattle to receive training in Google technologies. The last communication on this matter came in April.
And now, as July closes, CPS has announced a cancellation of this improvement in communications and collaboration to “allow other interested vendors to participate in the process”. Forgive my cynicism but I can’t help but wonder who on the new Board of Education is connected to these “other interested vendors”.
Chicago's current "Chief Information Officer" Arshele Stevens (above left) took over the office following the stormy series of problems created by her predecessor, Robert Runcie. Runcie's lack of knowledge of information systems at the time he served as CPS CEO under Arne Duncan was outweighed by the clout he came with as a result of his Broad Foundation training. When problems in technology led to Runcie's removal as CIO, he was promoted to the position of "Chief Administrative Officer." Above beside Stevens is the CPS chief of security, Michael Shields, whose clout caused controversy when he was appointed by Ron Huberman at a salary $35,000 per year more than his predecessor. Substance photo taken at the Board of Education meeting of June 15, 2011, by George N. Schmidt.When the move to Google@CPS was announced, I took steps to lay the groundwork for that change. In addition to my belief that it is part of my professional duty to stay up to date on district supported technology integration, I also know that preparation and planning are essential to effective teaching and learning.
As a proactive education professional who uses technology regularly in my coursework, I began the process of training myself in and prepping my returning students for the use of Google Docs and other Google tools. This prep work continued through the spring and summer. (Incidentally, my students love it.) I even purchased a netbook in anticipation of this switch to cloud computing, something I would not have otherwise done. I feel incredibly frustrated and disrespected as a professional by this whole ordeal. CPS has proven once again that they simply does not value the time, effort, input, and expertise of their employees.
CPS should not have announced the switch to Google@CPS unless they intended to follow through with these much needed improvements. They should have publicized the move away from Google@CPS long ago out of professional courtesy to their employees who often plan ahead months in advance. Given 90% employee approval of the switch, CPS should share publicly its rationale for its deselection of Google@CPS. And, CPS should apologize to not only its teachers, staff, and employees for wasting their time and effort but also to the city's taxpayers for wasting their money.
Sincerely,
Eric Skalinder, National Board Certified Teacher
Comments:
By: Theo Pinson
CPS and Google
Never before has a more obvious decision been put before a school district — and has the school district still managed to screw it up. The corruption and incompetence that clearly lie within CPS are astounding. I came upon this article after doing a quick search to see when CPS would finally move over to Google because I was about ready to throw my computer out the window working with our current mail client, Firstclass. I had been trying to send an e-mail but was prevented from doing so because, apparently, I had exceeded my quota of online disk space (500 mb!). I deleted a few old messages and tried to empty the trash...and then found out that I couldn't!
By: Daniel Gonzalez
What's with the censorship?
Why was my comment deleted? ...
By: George N. Schmidt
Comments deleted unless you sign your full name
Simple. Any comment that comes in with a pseudonym or first name only is deleted. We don't have time to play twenty questions. If our editors verify the name, email and person are authentic, the comment stays up. This is not a blog, where people can run around hiding behind "anonymous" fig leaves and phony names like a bunch of ....
By: Bob Busch
Google and the Silk Road
Chris and the worm
IB kids are sharp. They have to delve into a subjects to meet the rigorous requirements of that program. This brings me to the subject of The Silk Road.
As we all know that mythical trace went from Europe to Asia. It was a trade route linking two civilizations of ancient history. Always long, arduous and froth with peril it became impossible after the crusades. But then old Chris Columbus set sail from the port of Palos in search of a water route to Asia so he could try and bring
home some silk worms, the IB teachers felt the road would be a good topic for a paper.
As a Librarian charged with keeping everybody informed I could only justify buying two books on the subject. What to do? Take the kids to the Harold Washington Library? Perhaps a trip to Moraine Valley or Daily College might do the trick?
The answer lay with technology I exposed the kids to Google Books. We went over. What to do. It felt pretty good to hand the kids the keys to the 31,000 free full text books about the Silk Road. Google is tops in my mind. What is the Board thinking? Not another electronic disaster I hope.