It's highly doubtful that they will get rid of all of those supplies at once. But you are right, there are plenty of numbers to consider. First off, text books aren't purchased on a yearly basis. They are done every four or five years (or more, depending on funds). But same should apply to these iPads, though damaging an iPad is much more costly than damaging a textbook, unless Apple has some sort of deal going on with schools we don't know about. Another thing to consider is that the dollars per student, unless it is broken down for you, may include basic things such as utilities, groundskeeping, etc. Often times these numbers are essentially the cost to run the school divided by the number of students equals dollars spent per student. It may actually be a money savings in the long run, especially if they are able to get discounts updating digital textbook content, which brings me into a whole new topic altogether. Textbook publishers are the scum of the earth. They make minor updates, stop printing the "old" textbook, and start charging for the new. As such, I doubt digital textbook savings are huge at all. The best benefit I see is students not having to lug HEAVY textbooks around. I remember shoving 3-4 huge textbooks into my backpack and walking around school that way.
HERE is a nice, easy to read, and relatively up to date article with charts showing spending per student in LAUSD (it's more about prop 30, and why the school needs more money, and how they can get it, but it's still good info IMO). We are upwards of $5,000, but remember, that's not all just school supplies being caluclated in.
