Michigan's "no iPod left behind" budget proposal

Facing a $1 billion budget deficit, Michigan state House Democrats have proposed the natural addition to such a weighted spending plan: free iPods for every kid. Ostensibly for educational purposes, the $38 million plan would provide iPods or MP3 players to every student in Michigan to use as a learning tool. We've seen laptops -- which Michigan (and Virginia) handed out to its students a few year back -- and even PSPs be put to such educational use, but iPods are a bit of a new one on us. Pearson Education does have that curriculum for the iPod, and bought Apple's PowerSchool a little while back, but this would undoubtedly be the largest rollout of such curriculum to date. That said, we're all for the insanity, 'cause just like our iPod always told us: "We don't need no education... Teachers leave those kids alone." And if the iPod says it, it must be true!

[Via The Raw Feed, picture courtesy of Anti iPod]

[magallanes Posted Apr 8th 2007 9:52PM]

Bread and circuses just bread and circueses.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 11th 2007 10:47PM]

well, im 16 and go to school in Michigan, ill take a free ipod anyday. Will it help the education in Michigan? of course not, its an ipod. I'll just use it for music, and since my high school is so strict and ridiculous, even if the state handed out ipods for schooling, my school (lphs) most likely wouldnt let us have them still.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 10th 2007 9:50PM]

Nice... I live in michigan... and am in school... I WANT MY iPOD!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 11th 2007 12:08PM]

Of course, any story like this should be treated as a lie until verified. The money was for technology, not ipods. $23 a kid will not buy an iPod for each one of them. Here's how it works: Republican makes up lie, press prints it verbatim. Never checks with anyone else, like maybe the sponsor of the bill. Then when anyone complains, press prints a "he said, she said" story that doesn't support either side. It's a great racket if you have no ethics. Somehow I don't expect a retraction from engadget either.

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6345567