Losing Ground in Technogy Spending

	Executive Summary Losing Ground in Technogy Spending Positive Attitudes Mitigate Budget Threats Recommendations Acknowledgements Digital Leadership Divide Report (PDF)

Nearly half (48 percent) of all school leaders surveyed cite long-term planning and budgeting issues as a key challenge to technology use. Cumulatively, technology budgets have been stuck in neutral for the last three years, with school leaders in more than six in 10 districts (62 percent) reporting that their technology budgets have remained unchanged or decreased. More school leaders report budget increases (38 percent) than decreases (33 percent). On the other hand, more school leaders report "significant decreases" (18 percent) than "significant increases" (14 percent) in budget outlays.

Flat or unpredictable spending on technology is tantamount to losing ground. Schools, like other organizations, must continue to maintain, upgrade and invest in technology to make the most effective use of it. With increasingly powerful technologies available to them, schools need predictable budgets to keep their equipment up to date and useful to students, teachers and administrators for today and tomorrow - not for yesterday.

The laggards in technology spending may not be preparing their students well enough for the technology-saturated world they face in higher education, the workplace and daily life today. Without a doubt, increasing numbers of students have access to computers, cell phones, digital cameras, wireless devices and other technologies at home. Schools have a critical responsibility to provide all students with the opportunity to use technology to learn important life skills.

Disturbing Disparities Between Leaders and Laggards

There are disturbing disparities in technology spending among districts, with astonishing differences that may have serious consequences for the technology leaders and laggards in the future.

Districts whose technology budgets have increased over the past three years spend almost twice as much per student every year on technology as districts whose technology budgets have declined over the same period. Differences in expectations between these two groups may foreshadow even greater digital divides to come. School leaders whose budgets have increased over the past three years are the most optimistic that their budgets will continue to increase. Fifty-six percent of these survey respondents believe their districts' technology budgets will increase going forward, compared to 17 percent of school leaders whose budgets have declined.

Despite the budget concerns about technology, however, the vast majority of school districts do not make any kind of return-oninvestment (ROI) calculations to evaluate the effectiveness of technology purchases. Two-thirds (66 percent) of districts do not consider or use ROI calculations when they buy or evaluate technology. Ironically, school leaders in high-tech districts (43 percent) are the most likely to look for a return on their investments. School leaders say districts in the South (40 percent) and large districts (39 percent) also are relatively likely to make formal ROI calculations.

School leaders in one of five districts (20 percent) say their districts use student test scores as a basis for calculating ROI, while at least one in six report that their districts use more traditional economic indices such as teacher efficiencies (16 percent) or cost reduction (15 percent). Again, high-tech districts (27 percent) and districts in the South (26 percent) are the most likely to hold technology accountable for student test scores. High-tech districts (23 percent), districts with increasing technology budgets (22 percent) and districts in the South (21 percent) are the most likely to measure ROI in terms of time saved for teachers. The nation's largest districts are the most likely to consider their technology investment effective if it simply helps them reduce costs (23 percent) or improve student attendance (13 percent).

Although relatively few districts make formal ROI calculations, more than four in 10 school leaders (43 percent) consider the total cost of ownership (TCO), such as technical support, maintenance and upgrading, important in evaluating technology. Again, school leaders in districts in the South (53 percent) and high-tech districts (52 percent) are more likely than their peers to track TCO. School leaders in large districts (49 percent) and suburban districts (48 percent) also appear relatively concerned about this measure of technology costs.