Every LA Schoolkid to Get an iPad

After approving a $30 million contract with Apple, the LA Unified School District is poised to provide every student with an iPad. The decision comes after a 6-0 vote by the Board of Education, the Los Angeles Times reports. The device "received the highest scoring by the students and the teachers" in a comparison with other gadgets, and it's the cheapest package that covers the schools' needs—though it will end up costing "hundreds of millions" in the next two years, the Times notes.

The initial deal gets some 35,000 iPads for 47 campuses, AllThingsD notes, but there are 1,087 schools in what is the country's second-largest district, VentureBeat points out. "This is one of the most high-profile contracts this board will ever approve," says a board member. The 32GB, 4th-generation iPads cost $678 each, which is more than the store price, but they come with educational and productivity software, including iWork. A Microsoft rep said the board shouldn't put all its eggs in one basket, instead adopting multiple platforms—particularly since Microsoft software is used by more businesses. But the district said the iPad was the better device, the Times reports. (More iPad stories.)