Georgia one-on-one program

to teachers and students as part of a proposed one-on-one educational program that will cost nearly $70 million, making it one of the largest such programs in the country. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that system administration officials have acknowledged the proposal, but are waiting until a Wednesday Board meeting, where Superintendent Joseph Redden is scheduled to unveil the details. The proposal calls for a 3-phase program that will give laptops to teachers this spring and begin with a four school sites in the fall; the second phase will provide iBooks to high school students in early 2006, and the third will be to provide the computers to middle school students. [free registration required]

The report says that the Cobb disctrict has spent months negotiating with companies including IBM and Dell, and previously estimated the cost at more than $69.4 million over four years, which does not include negotiated expenses such as support, training and maintenance. The school system also expects one-time costs of about $4.5 million to upgrade wireless networks as well as upgrade servers and server storage.




"System officials have made no secret of their desire to pay $275 per machine, which is the same cost as in Michigan's recent laptop contract with Hewlett-Packard. Redden indicated two weeks ago that the proposals were close, although he also said Cobb's overall request — including the negotiated expenses — was more comprehensive. That will likely add millions of dollars to the cost."

by MacNN Staff