Idaho voters say no to statewide laptop plan

From The Idaho Statesman: Voters in Idaho decisively rejected a proposal that would have required high schools to provide laptop computers for all students and would have made completion of online coursework a requirement for high school graduation. More than two-thirds of voters said no to the proposal. The state had announced an eight-year $180 million laptop contract with Hewlett-Packard to provide the computers.

Earlier...

NOVEMBER 2011....from The Spokane Spokesman-Review: The Idaho State Board of Education has given final approval to a rule requiring every Idaho student to take two online classes to graduate from high school. The rule takes effect with this year’s 8th graders, the high school class of 2016. Parents, teachers and others opposed to the reform plan have qualified a referendum for the November 2012 ballot that could overturn it in its entirety.