The sleek new digital whiteboards in math classrooms at Patrick Henry High can pull up websites for classes to view and save interactive lessons teachers create in advance. Jeff Bellinger calls his "a wonderful piece of equipment." But he rarely uses it to do much more than draw perfect circles or graphs for students in his math class -- things he could do on a regular dry-erase board, albeit a bit slower.
"It just seems like a bit of overkill," he said.
Bellinger teaches in a temporary classroom with no air conditioning. The influx of new technology over the next four years into classrooms like his is a rare boon for San Diego Unified schools in a budget crisis. But the tools have also inspired a backlash from some teachers and parents who don't see the point in computerizing classrooms while more mundane fixes have to wait, such as repairing roofs, replacing fire alarms or upgrading buildings for earthquake safety or disabled access.Though the technology is being installed while schools scrape for copying paper and teachers