Hewlett-Packard has signed a $180 million contract with the state of Idaho to provide laptop computers for every high school student in the state, Betsy Russell reports for The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
The company and the state will move forward with the contract if voters approve a ballot initiative to require increases in technology spending for education, Russell reports.
That initiative requires laptops for every high school student, requires two online classes to graduate and rewrites state school funding formulas, the report said.
Superintendent Tom Luna told the newspaper the contract with HP works out to $249.77 per year per student or teacher for the laptops, with a quarter of the laptops being replaced each year.
That number goes up to $292.77 when including wireless networks and professional development, Luna told Russell.
Russell reports HP’s partners include Education Networks of America for the wireless networks; Xtreme Consulting Group for tech support; Black Box for hardware fixes; and the Idaho Digital Learning Academy for training.
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