You are subscribed to the Mac EvangeList - <http://www.MacEvangeList.com>
For Kingıs laptop dream, perseverance paid off BY BONNIE WASHUK Gov. Angus King was relieved Tuesday. Finally, after two years of wrangling with opposition, he won approval for $25 million to pay for laptop computers for every seventh- and eighth-grader in Maine public schools. The money is provided in the state budget signed by King Monday night. In August, 19,000 Apple laptops will arrive in seventh-grade classrooms across the state. Eighth-grade classrooms will get them in 2003. It means Maine will be the first state to use laptops statewide. Other school districts have distributed laptops, ³but nobody has done it on this scale,² King said. ³Itıs the largest educational technology program in history.² Long term, King says laptops will create better jobs and higher pay. ³Itıll do that in three ways. Thereıll be more content knowledge available to our students; they wonıt be stuck with out-of-date textbooks. Secondly, our kids will be more adept at technology than any society in the world, just because theyıll have 100 percent access. Itıll be like hockey players who donıt have to think about skating.² Using technology will become as natural as their right arm, he said. And, he added, ³it doesnıt hurt Maine to be known as the place thatıs hot when it comes to technology.² One lesson King said he has learned in the two-year effort ³is the value of perseverance. Thatıs one of the qualities you have to bring to this job,² he said. ³There were plenty of times we could have walked away from this. But after two years of being beaten up and fighting for this, all the while reading about this and talking to educators, I am absolutely more convinced now than the day I announced it² that itıs the right thing to do. Given that the state was facing a $250 million deficit in January, itıs ³miraculous we cut taxes, increased funds to education, and that the computer program is still intact and is going forward,² King said. ³Iım delighted.² The $25 million will only pay for seventh- and eighth-grade laptops for four years. After that future lawmakers will have to approve funding to continue the program. More here: http://www.sunjournal.com/story.asp?slg=032702laptopss -- Looking for the perfect gift for the Mac fanatic in your life? How about a Mac EvangeList T-Shirt or iClock here: <http://www.macevangelist.com/eshop/> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- For subscribing, unsubscribing or changing to a digest or individual version, visit <http://www.MacEvangeList.com/groups/> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send all submissions to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
