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According to the US Department of Education, total money spent on K-12 schooling annually in the USA has risen from US$248.9 billion in 1990 to US$536 billion in 2005. How can an enormous industry (which is what K-12 schooling is) with a huge influential union be in dire straits when often is the main source of jobs in rural areas?

As pointed out in this article (based on a recent bipartisan study):
    "To fix US schools, panel says, start over"
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1215/p01s01-ussc.htm l
for all the money (and technology) increased over that time per student, test scores (for what they are worth) have remained flat.

The problem with most K-12 schooling is not money (or technology); it is that K-12 schooling is actually very good at doing what it was designed to do (see for example John Taylor Gatto's writings).
      "The 7-Lesson Schoolteacher"
      http://www.newciv.org/whole/schoolteacher.txt
Unfortunately what compulsory schooling was designed to do one hundred years or more ago (make people into compliant assembly line workers) is not really what an information age society needs anymore.

That's why efforts like by the Shuttleworth Foundation
    http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/
to make some of the sort of software you are asking about for schools is misguided IMHO. You can't fix a bad process producing undesireable outcomes by automating it or reducing its cost. You need to change it entirely.

Here is one of many groups devoted to rethinking education:
    "The Alternative Education Resource Organization"
    http://www.educationrevolution.org/
And a related article by the leader of that organization:
    "Sustainable Education "
    http://www.greenmoneyjournal.com/article.mpl?newsl etterid=21&articleid=195
He writes: "Nevertheless, there is an education revolution going on, and it is long overdue. It is moving in the diametrically opposite direction of the "testing" push. The latter comes from the bureaucrats from within that dying system, who do know there is something wrong. But since they can't think "out of the box," the only remedy they can come up with is longer hours, more homework, and "teaching to the test," in other words, more of the same. The education revolution is coming from people who have created alternative schools and programs, thousands of them, and from others who have checked "none of the above" and have decided to home educate."

Once you make the leap to a new process for education (primarily learner self-direction) *then* we can talk about what software makes sense to support the learner (like educational simulations, design tools, plain old access to the web, edubuntu,
    http://www.edubuntu.org/
and so on).

The maintenance (both physical and software), the design and I would imagine the insurance is paid for by the Shuttleworth Foundation, with a volunteer (or several) near each location to ensure all is well. The Shuttleworth Foundation has the backing of Mark Shuttleworth (who doesn't struggle for funds) to keep going, which also pays for the hardware. The fundingis in place and will continue to be in place.

Here in South Africa, toasters have been placed in a few shopping malls and university campuses. I would imagine that will continue - they are in public.

This is not a pipe dream at all - it shows every sign of being successful.

Alternative Info at this Site

Longhorn will just in turn be the next in a long line of mistakes.

Bill Gates on the other hand has donated billions of dollars to curing third world hunger and AIDs through the Bill and Malinda Gates foundaton. In this sense he is continueing the work that *saints* such as Mother Thersa performed. Bill Gates, Microsoft and Windows form what could be considered a contemporary "Holy Trinity".

Spoken like a truely blind Microsoft folder. Dont let Mark Shuttleworth here you say those words. The millions that he just throws at good and just causes , Ubuntu linux included, to help benefit those in third world countries would all be in vain. Of course...let Gates donate millions of dollars to charity, maybe it will make up for the fact that he peddles his 200 dollar equivalent OS in countries where the userbase cant even think about spending that kind of money. Is that why XP - Lite exists......for a measly 90 dollar equivlency. Why bother when you can acquire a good stable Linux system for 0$. In starving 3rd world countries, Free is a lot more economical and cost effective than 90$. Your talking like a blind follower if you believe for an instant that Gates really does care about the humanitarian causes you think hes so supportive of.

Shuttleworth hard at work and much more a humanitarian than Gates will ever be.

http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/index.php?op tion=content&task=blogsection&id=8

Next thing you do is tell me that President Bush is really actually doing a good job.

And, all the pretty desktops that run on Linux don't mean squat if the bean counters and other non-techie PHBs never considers evaluating them. I think this has to be done on both fronts, PR to people that control the purse strings at larger companies, and investment in developers that produce commercial class applications.

Yes, and you are so right. But... do yourself a massive favour and have a gander at Mark Shuttleworth's Home page.

On the right hand side you'll see quite a couple of projects he's involved in and funding, including:

• The Shuttleworth Foundation to fund innovative projects in education,
• The SchoolTool Project to produce a common global platform for school administration,
• It's Hip2BSquare! pro-education campaign,
• The ultra-cool UpStarts, an entrepreneurial incubator, and
• Of import to OSS developers, some bounties!

As per ususal, in my own Quixotic way, I'm planning on helping as far I can...

Even if it is just mouthing off on /. <grin>