Aunt Minnie’s 486

What to do with that big pile of money the late Aunt Minnie bequeathed to Maine — the $200 million revenue surplus — was the most eagerly anticipated portion of Gov. King’s State of the State address Monday, but perhaps the most intriguing tidbit was the part about the computers gathering dust in that dear departed relative’s storeroom.

At first, it sounded far-fetched, as though the governor had gotten his index cards mixed up: businesses donate used, but not antique computers; a California foundation, Detwiler, pays to repair and upgrade them; state prison inmates do the repairing and upgrading; the Libra Foundation, created by the late philanthropist Elizabeth Noyce, bankrolls the inmate training; and schools and libraries across the state get to stay close to the cutting edge of technology for free.

It’s not the least bit fetched. Detwiler launched its upgrade campaign in California seven years ago, when that state ranked last nationally for student access to technology. Since then, more than 35,000 computers have been placed in California schools, thousands of inmates have learned a valuable trade and school districts have been able to spend their money on training teachers and students to use technology and not on buying hardware.

For once, Maine isn’t the last to catch on. Detwiler went national with its program less than two years ago; Maine is the 12th state to sign on. In fact, the diligence with which Maine has pursued wiring its educational institutions for internet access paid a dividend here — Detwiler’s agreement with Maine includes not just schools, but, for the first time, libraries as well.

In Maine schools, there are roughly seven students per computer. The national average is seven to three. But the problem isn’t just quantity, but also quality. In many elementary schools, the computers are older than the pupils. As anyone who’s tried to do it knows, a computer more than a few years old is about as useful for downloading Hubble photos as a toaster.

The immediate target is to put 11,000 refurbished computers into schools and libraries within three years. That’s not the lofty goal it may seem — it is estimated that for every three new computers bought, one used computer ends up languishing in a closet or warehouse. Pledges already made by UNUM, L.L. Bean and Hannaford Bros. will get this off the ground, but other Maine business need to log on.

That shouldn’t be hard, given the little-publicized, computer industry- friendly amendment added to federal tax legislation last summer, in which companies that donate computers to schools within two years of purchase get to deduct the full price paid, not just the “blue book” used value, in addition to getting to depreciate it along the way. Of course, given the way Washington works, that benefit does not extend to individuals and sole-proprietor businesses, but the small fry still can deduct the used value and, besides, donating a used 386 or 486 computer and taking a tax break is a whole lot easier than trying to sell the blasted thing.

There’s a lot of details to be worked out, such as the level and type of a state match Detwiler will require, the nuts and bolts of the inmate training program, guidelines for distributing the reworked machines, the method for collecting donations. It may be a couple of months before the program is ready to roll, so if you buy a new computer, hang on to it, it may still do some good. Not everybody has Aunt Minnie’s kind of money, but just about everybody has an old computer in the closet.