An article in ITBusiness.ca by Sarah Lysecki discusses the Linux lab we reported earlier.
Ed Montgomery, a computer science teacher at Monarch Park Collegiate, said in an e-mail to ITBusiness.ca that he was given a note in May, telling him that the Linux lab would be dismantled and replaced with a Microsoft-based Classroom Migration Technology Initiative (CTMI) lab.
...
Montgomery sent a letter to The Canadian Association for Open Source (CLUE) last week asking for help. Russell McOrmond, an Internet consultant who is also a policy coordinator at CLUE, received the letter.
I have sent further letters to the Toroto District School Board asking for documentation on CTMI, with the hopes that they will document this on the board website.
Expels?
Reading through the referenced article, I think that "expels" might be a bit strong a word for this story. "Discards" might be more appropriate , though it does miss out some of the intent obvious in the article. Perhaps "disregards"?
Based on the article, it seems this change was inevitable, given factors specific to the case. The Linux software didn't meet with the arbitrary streamlining preferred by the principal as the proper way to meet their understanding of the CTMI requirements.
Like you, I smell something funny, but I also think that more can be gained by studying the tactics used in this instance. With clear thinking, we can be ready for the next time someone takes this approach. This can also be used as a negative example when other school boards propose similar initiatives.
My focus...
I believe the focus of an association such as CLUE should be to become a trusted advisor for the ongoing consultation and upgrades that this system will need. Our growing membership includes users and practitioners with FLOSS, as well as people who are employers or who do the resume filtering for employers.
That said, I also smell something funny in the local school. I note that Mr. Montgomery disputes the class sizes claimed in the article. Where did these numbers come from? Why would the superintendent and the teacher have different numbers?
It makes me wonder if there are specific staff in the school, possibly IT or teaching staff, that have their own personal reasons for wanting to push an alternative lab out of the school.
In writing privately with Mr. Montgomery it sounded like fellow staff seemed to be trying to make Mr. Montgomery's attempt to provide better opportunities to students just that much harder. My hope is that he will be willing to publicly document some of these problems, so that parents and other people involved more closely with that specific school can investigate if there are internal problems.
I don't believe that the problems exist with the principal or the board, which seem to simply be administering based on decisions made as part of the Classroom Migration Technology Initiative (CTMI). We may not agree with this initiative, and this initiative may need to be modernized to deal with the changing marketplace in software and technology, but being upset at the principal or superintendent for that school doesn't help fix these problems.
I wrote the following in a letter earlier today, copied to the principal, superintendent, and head of IT services for the Toronto District School Board.
I then asked if there was an advisory committee involved in dealing with ongoing upgrades and enhancements to both the technical services, software offerings, and curriculum.
Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) consultant.