Apples for the students

It has been nearly two years since Gov. King unveiled his exciting plan to provide laptop computers to every Maine junior high student. From the start, the governor has promised that being the first in the nation to go statewide with a comprehensive publicly funded program to integrate the Internet with education would reap generous private sector support.

The deal struck with Apple proves the promise was based upon good information and not, as critics have persistently alleged, mere wishful thinking. In fact, Apple’s bid – the latest iBook laptops, wireless Internet access, training, software and technical support at an annual cost of $300 per student for four years – is more than a deal. Compare this to the standard classroom technology packages offered by Apple and other manufacturers and it is clear that this is a substantial subsidy of Maine education by an industry leader.

More is to come, in the form of direct financial support from foundations and businesses. An announcement is expected later this month on the first such grant – in the $1 million range – to further this initiative.

But the generosity of Apple and other private sources depends upon Maine keeping its end of the bargain and that is in doubt. The $50 million originally set aside for this program was pared down to $30 million by lawmakers last spring. Now, with the economy in recession and the state facing projected a two-year revenue shortfall of $200 million or more, many legislators are eyeing the remainder of the technology fund to balance the budget.

It is hard to imagine a more expensive way to save money. Without the technology fund, or enough of it to actually launch this program, the Apple deal is dead and the foundation and business support goes elsewhere. Universal access to the Internet in education is inevitable, but the prize is for being first, not 10th, not – as Maine often is in such things – 38th.

The $20 million raid the Legislature made upon the technology fund last spring already has had repercussions. The matching grants from foundations and business have been slow to materialize because benefactors are reluctant to give when the recipient is so obviously afflicted with cold feet. There certainly will be no grants to Maine if the money is perceived as merely replacing money the state refuses to invest in itself.

The recession, now in its ninth month, now is close to the average length of all recessions in the last 50 years of 11 months and most forecasters project a gradual recovery to begin in early 2002. The state’s Rainy Day Fund, one of the most robust in the nation, stands at more than $100 million. A hold the governor already has placed on state agency hiring can save at least $10 million; combined with a freeze on unexpended agency accounts, $25 million can be saved. Programs approved and funded but not implemented can be postponed. Abandoning the best idea to come out of Augusta in years may seem a simple answer to the problem of the current and transitory economic downturn, but it is the wrong one.