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[school-discuss] Microsoft and the State



I intended to jump back in here a few days
ago, but I got tied up with other things....

First, let's get the trivia out of the way:
if a dollar sign in the name of a large
software firm distracts people from the
really important issues, then I'm perfectly
willing to drop the $--at lea$t in my
po$ting$ to thi$ li$t. :-)

Now back to the real meat. If I inspired a
productive discussion, then fine--but it was
really serendipity, because nobody seems to
have grasped the point that I was trying to
address. It appears I was not clear enough.
I'm attempting a more detailed and careful
presentation this time.

Here in Missouri, each recipient of
unemployment compensation is required to
report at regular intervals to a regional
state-run Career Center. This is a place
where the unemployed person can check job
databases, talk to a counselor, etc.

When I made my most recent visit to my
area's Career Center, right after I walked
in the door, I saw a prominently displayed
flyer promoting the Elevate America program.
The flyer's design was consistent with
Microsoft's well-established marketing style,
and the Microsoft corporate logo clearly
appeared. The Missouri state logo was nowhere
to be seen on the flyer.

When the Career Center employee behind the
counter saw me looking at the flyer on the wall,
she gave me a copy for me to keep. Later,
when I was at one of the Center's computers,
another employee saw my copy of the flyer and
directed me to the part of the Missouri state
government web site that had a direct link to
Microsoft's Elevate America site. This site
includes a link to a list of the states
that are currently participating in the
program. (I don't know how many more states 
will enter later.) For each state on the list,
there is a link to the page on that state's
governmental site that describes the state's
participation in the program.

On Missouri's version of the Voucher Request
Form that one fills out to get into the
Elevate America program, the "Project
Description" claims that the purpose of the
project is "to provide thousands of
Missourians with the technology knowledge and
skills or certification necessary to succeed
in the 21st Century economy." On the same form,
the only type of training offered is for
Microsoft Office; nothing non-Microsoft is
mentioned at all.

I hope the point is obvious by now, but I'll
summarize it just to make sure: Microsoft
has established official relationships with
a growing number of state governments,
creating the impression that Microsoft's
products have become in effect synonymous
with technology training for unemployed
workers--or so Microsoft obviously hopes. I
have seen no evidence so far that any other
entity--public or private--has even come
close to acquiring this kind of formal state
endorsement in the employment arena.

Now I will ask some specific questions:

1. Is there any state, anywhere in the US,
in which, when a person walks into that
state's version of a government-run career
center, that person will see info about a
FLOSS-based program aimed at accomplishing
substantially the same goals as Elevate
America, but in a FLOSS context?

2. If this kind of FLOSS equivalent to
Elevate America does not yet exist, is such
a project under development in any state(s),
with the kind of governmental support that
Microsoft has been able to achieve?

3. If such a FLOSS program doesn't exist
and it isn't on the way, what are the
prospects for starting one?

I hope that members of this list will make
their best attempts at answering these
specific questions. I further hope that
there will be discussion of these issues,
eventually leading to the production of
materials that we can show to our elected
public servants. I'm envisioning a web site
containing a relevant summary of what has
and has not happened yet; a thorough and
balanced analysis of both the benefits and
risks of the current situation; and a
good clear description of why legislators
at all levels should look closely at FLOSS
in this context--all written in language
that those legislators can understand and
effectively work from. Then we ground troops
of FLOSS can start sending the URL of this
site to city halls, state capitols, and DC.

It looks to me like there is a whole lot
of work to be done. I'm certainly not
qualified to be the main person in this,
but I'll contribute what I can. How about
the rest of you folks?

Joel