The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has awarded a $30 million contract to Apple to provide iPads to every student in the system. The school district, the second-largest in the United States, will pay $678 per device, and the iPads will come preloaded with educational software. The district’s board approved the deal in a unanimous vote on Tuesday.
Members of the board characterized the deal is one of the “most high-profile contracts” they will ever approve, declaring it “as big as they come.”
With the board’s approval, the iPad will be used by students at 47 campuses in the L.A. Unified School District. The board opted to choose Apple as the sole vendor after students and teachers rated the iPad as the highest quality tablet available on the market.
Apple rival Microsoft had asked the district to pilot more than one device, and consider its Windows devices, arguing that most businesses use Microsoft platforms and Windows tablets would be a good way to expose students to that platform.
LAUSD staff disagreed, saying the iPad was the superior product, and it wouldn’t be fair to require some students to use a lesser device.
The iPad has become increasingly popular in educational institutions, replacing traditional PCs in education. Arkansas State University will require all incoming students to have an iPad for the fall semester.
