A n initial vote on whether to push forward with a controversial $70 million plan to outfit 63,000 students and teachers in a Georgia county with iBooks has been rescheduled for April 13.
Minor wrangling over the specifics of the contract with Apple was blamed for the delay, although Cobb County school board officials and Apple downplayed any worries and anticipate the situation will be resolved in a matter of days, the Atlanta -Journal Constitution reported. Concerns mainly centered around support for the systems and any potential financial liability the county could face.
Survey results released by the board, meanwhile, found that a substantial majority of teachers strongly support the plan. Of the more than 2,500 teachers who responded to the survey, 76 percent agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal to provide laptops to students. Cobb County currently employs about 8,000 teachers, and the first phase of the laptop initiative calls for outfitting all of them with iBooks about a year before students receive theirs.