Dive Brief:
- The $768 per device that Los Angeles is paying for its students' iPads is far more than the several hundred dollars other nearby districts are paying for tablet or Chromebook programs.
- Other schools have found ways to trim costs even if buying some iPads: Some, for instance, are giving lower-grade students a different device from high school students.
- Some districts have had lower costs because while they are buying iPads, they are not buying a new curriculum to go along with them.
Dive Insight:
There's no doubt, iPads are more expensive than some other options. And while some districts have successfully gone after lower-cost alternatives, some have been burned by trying to cut costs. Still, sometimes compromises have to be made. As one school district official told the Los Angeles Times: "The iPad is the gold standard. Our problem is we don't have any gold."