LePage aimed to shut down school laptops program

LePage aimed to shut down school laptops program

By Colin Woodard cwoodard@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

Gov. Paul LePage considered shutting down Maine's school laptop program last fall but was persuaded not to by his education commissioner.

click image to enlarge

Oak Hill Middle School seventh-grader Eric O'Connor, left, works with Carrie Ricker School third-grader on a MacBook on May 14 in Litchfield. Gov. Paul LePage sought to eliminate Maine's middle-school laptop program, according to emails received by MaineToday Media, but was persuaded against that move by Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen.

Staff file photo by Joe Phelan

Select images available for purchase in the
Maine Today Photo Store

Emails between Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen, his staff and the governor's office indicate that LePage has been extremely skeptical of the program, known as the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, which buys laptops for all public middle school students and negotiates low prices for school districts to lease laptops for high school students. MaineToday Media obtained the emails as part of a public records request.
The state's multi-year contract with Apple to supply, support and maintain tens of thousands of public school laptops and the networks they rely on expires this year. As Bowen and his staff last year prepared to put out a competitive bid for a new four-year contract, LePage told Bowen he was not convinced they should do so.
Emails show the governor was persuaded to allow the process to move forward only after being assured he could "shut the whole thing down" if he didn't like the bids that came in.
The correspondence sheds new light on the weeks-long delay in announcing the winner of the new laptop contract this spring, as the governor's office reviewed the bids. The delay — and the surprise announcement that school districts could choose from any of five proposals — has caused anxiety and confusion for schools, many of which already had their budgets set.  MORE...

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/LePage-aimed-to-shut-down-school-laptops-program.html?pagenum=1