computerdisc-l: Home Schoolers and Outdated Lab

["Carol Broadus" <cbroadus@netdoor.com>]

I am having a problem with students who come into my classroom after a
period of home schooling.  These students have no skills with computers
sometimes and our school does not have a policy in place regarding new
students.  It's either take them and place them in keyboarding as I am
teaching the rest of the class word processing and other skills or fight
with the counselor, principal, etc.  It is very hard to make the upper
level administration understand that when I am talking about cut, copy and
paste, these students have no understanding of what to do because they
cannot even type!  Since I am a B site, this problem has been lingering for
some time.  Now we have two other sites in our district which are D sites
and I am encouraging the district to put some type of policy in place
because these other sites will also experience the same problem in the
future.  Any ideas?

Also, as a B site, my equipment is in sad shape.  My lab is in dire need of
upgrading and I still have one year left before I am eligible.  Although I
came into a lab which the vendor left "hanging" with lots of problems, I
have just about gotten things under control.  I am very discouraged when I
go into the newer labs or to the meetings and see the labs with digital
cameras, newer software, and all the luxuries that I know are available.  I
am still running 386s with Windows 3.1 and it is very hard to get any
software which I can use.  Most of the academic classes in my school have
moved on to Microsoft Office and are no longer using Works at all. 
Sometimes I feel as if I am fighting a losing battle by teaching these
students outdated material on outdated equipment.  Although I could
purchase Office for my lab, you must have Windows 95 or 98 to run the
software.  And my students are buying computers, going home to show their
stuff to their parents, and finding their machines are quite different from
what I am teaching.  Then they talk with students in our district who
attend other schools where D sites are now in place and they want to know
why we don't have the same stuff.  Perhaps we should allocate funds for all
labs to have upgrade budgets each year and allow the teachers some input
into what is needed rather than just completely redoing the labs.  Has
anyone ever asked why we can't lease computers which could be traded in for
upgrades on a regular basis? 

How many of you are also the computer technician for your lab along with
the teacher? 

These are questions which have occurred to me over a period of time and I
would appreciate some responses from people who are encountering similar
problems.

Carol Broadus