Biggest Problem with Educational Technology

     Being a teacher in a public school system has given me new insight about the lack of funding for new educational technology in my school.  After the school day ends, my fourth grade students return home to a world in which they are surrounded by technology (Ipads, Ipods, laptops, video game systems, tablets, etc).  Yet, when they return to school the next day, my students are surrounded by a brick building with virtually no technological advance at all.
     I have been teaching for seven years and I hear the same story over an over again when it comes to educational technology....."there are no funds to buy anything".  This is evident because at the end of every school year at least two teachers end up losing their jobs because of budget cuts.  However, one has to wonder if budget cuts can be made in other places so that teachers can keep their jobs, and a way in which educational technology resources can be purchased.  Technology is too important in a school system, it gets students to open their minds to new concepts and it leads to creative/higher order thinking.  The world is moving at such a rapid pace because of technology and we cannot afford to fail our students by leaving them behind with just a piece of paper and a pencil to use.