The Department of Education has hatched a plan to expand the state’s laptop computer program to all high school students and teachers without spending any new money.
The expansion will be accomplished by diverting funds already used for technology in schools to lease 100,000 Apple MacBooks, said Education Commissioner Susan Gendron to the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee last week.
In a related initiative, Gov. John Baldacci announced during his State of the State address March 10 that each of those laptops will be equipped with software linking them to resources managed by the Maine Department of Labor, including CareerCenters, which offer employment tools and advice.
“This laptop goes home,” said Baldacci in an interview last week. “So we said to ourselves, is there a way in which we can advantage the families by instilling training and education opportunities with them? We wanted to be able to take advantage of that tool for the family.”
Maine became the first state to provide laptop computers to all seventh- and eighth-graders in 2002 and with this fall’s expansion will be the first state to provide computers to all high school students. The department intends to lease 100,000 computers at a rate of $242 per machine per year, which will expand the program and update the laptops currently being used in middle schools. School districts are not required to participate and those that already have computers for all high school students will be eligible for reimbursements, said Gendron.
Members of the Education Committee reacted enthusiastically.
“This is an extraordinary idea,” said Rep. Peter Johnson, R-Greenville. “I don’t know how you can be a student without a computer these days.”
Rep. Alan Casavant, D-Biddeford, a high school teacher, hailed the program but said it needs to come with training for teachers.
“In general, kids get used to using laptops in middle school and then they come to high school to a technological desert,” said Casavant. “Teachers have to have adequate training. The whole key is to allow them to achieve a comfort level.”
Gendron, who said “almost all” superintendents she has spoken with are in strong support of the program, said the contract with Apple will cover technical support, professional development and software.
Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, the Senate chairman of the committee, shared his colleagues’ excitement.
“I hope schools and teachers take advantage of this program,” he said. “It allows parents to be more involved in students’ learning. This is just a great step in the right direction.”
The expansion of the program is included in a package of changes to Baldacci’s biennial budget proposal, which is under consideration by the Legislature. Sen. Bill Diamond, co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has said he hopes to pass the two-year budget on to the full Legislature by mid-April.
(Statehouse News Service)
