Luna: $4.7M a year to buy laptops for students

“It’s nothing new for Idaho students to take online courses - it’s definitely not a radical idea,” state schools Supt. Tom Luna told lawmakers this morning in his budget hearing. He said he wants to require all 9th graders to take two online credits per year starting next fall, and expand that each year as those students move up. Also starting next fall, every 9th grader in public school in Idaho would be given a laptop computer. “This is the new textbook, the new research device, the connection to information and learning inside the classroom and out,” Luna said.

He said under his plan, the state would begin spending $4.7 million a year on laptops starting in fiscal year 2013, though it wasn’t clear how the initial computers for 9th graders then would be purchased next fall, in fiscal year 2012. He also wants to fund $800,000 a year for teacher training and curriculum integration, and $842,000 to pay for seniors who have completed all high school graduation requirements to take dual-credit college courses.