Superintendent Joe Redden is recommending a $69.9 million lease agreement with Apple Computer to provide more than 63,000 wireless laptops to teachers and students in Georgia's Cobb County School District. If approved by the school board on March 9, Cobb County's "Power to Learn" program will be among the largest one-to-one learning projects in the United States.

The price tag for the program, which is scheduled to be implemented in three phases, could amount to more than $88 million, but in March, the Cobb County school board is being asked to consider the $69.9 million commitment expected to take the program through its first four years. Additional funding would be needed in the out years. Redden told eSchool News he is asking the board to approve the program one phase at a time.

After a series of intense negotiations that included bids from Dell, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard, Redden and his team announced Apple's selection on Feb. 9, citing a tentative four-year agreement that reportedly would provide 63,000 iBook G4 laptop computers, including software, maintenance, and training at $350 annually per machine.

Inspired by a handful of large-scale, one-to-one initiatives currently under way in such places as Maine, Michigan, and Henrico County, Va., the Cobb County venture would be among the first in the nation to provide laptop computers to both middle school and high school students. Though such programs have usually been launched in lower grades--thanks to smaller enrollments and more structured learning environments--officials in Cobb County want to get laptops into the hands of older learners, too--many of whom will rely on the technology as they enroll in college and enter the workforce.

Pending board approval, the Power to Learn program would be rolled out in three phases, with the first notebook computers being issued to teachers in this spring. As part of this initial phase, the district also plans to designate four schools, "or demonstration sites," to test the program. The pilot sites would begin using the laptops by fall 2005 to conduct teacher training and explore classroom uses of the technology.

Staring in 2006, phase II would distribute the wireless notebook computers to every high school student in the district, providing that their schools have met the necessary readiness requirements, including the proper amount of staff training and infrastructure development.

The last phase of the program would put laptops in the hands of every middle school student in the district, though school system officials caution that each phase "will move forward pending school board approval."