I don't think this is out of the ordinary. Ever since I have been around,
education is well behind the curve, not only with respect to computers.
They prepare students for yesterday. I say this as an educator (retired)
with over 30 years experience. Most teach as they were taught. If they were
brought up on MS then that is safe and sacred. You could say the same about
literature, why teach someone current and relevant when there is
Shakespeare.

Teachers resist any change. It means more work and most are at wits end
now. They are expected to teach more with less and to produce better
results. Everybody is an expert from parents to adminstrators and most have
never been in a classroom and if they were they would run for their lives.

When I taught we had 286s when 486s came out. Most kids had better
computers at home and had access to the latest hardware. I was the techie
at my school and basically you taught yourself and paid for workshops out
of your own pocket. You got a substitute if you were lucky otherwise the
school had to cover internally.

I do not blame the teachers. The system sucked and it still does. From top
down it is all smoke and mirrors. Try to look good to tax payers by
cutting, make sure the teachers toe the party line and do not talk out of
turn and talk big in terms of intentions but never deliver, unless forced.
I am not bitter. I enjoyed every second as a teacher and count it as one of
life's greatest privileges. I am just telling it like it is.

If you want to make change, and I do, then you have to start with yourself.
Change can be huge because of the way teaching works. You touch thirty or
so lives at any given time and that influence can help or hinder. You
multiply that because each of those will touch many others and you teach
for thirty years and have done the best that you can then you can smile and
know you did well, without anyone having to notice. That is the way it is
supposed to work, but it is the squeaky wheels that drive any machine. They
get the attention and the machine gets pulled this way and that, but it is
all a storm that you know will blow by. A teacher is king or queen in his
or her own classroom, so they tend to ignore all of the bluster and
concentrate on what matters most -- kids.

Every once in a while I meet a former student and I take personal pride in
their achievements and feel their discourgement if things did not turn out
the way they imagined. They are still my kids. Computers and books and
pencils are important, but they are just tools. The best thing you can give
kids is be good people and challenge them to be critical thinkers. The rest
is beyond your control.