[CarolynM]

You need to examine your school and students before you start making real plans. Online or e-books are great, but if you're looking at $20 per student for the line item you mentioned. You may need to spend a lot more on infrastructure to make online books work.

How many families have computers at home? What kind of computers? How about internet access. Do they have enough computer resources so each child has a computer for textbooks access a large part of the evening? What kind of support would the school be willing to provide, say if someone had a computer failure at home, or difficulty using the specific book? Pay close attention to any disadvantaged families, children in foster care or living in shelters, etc. How would you make this work for them?

How are the existing textbooks used? Do students read them or do homework on long bus rides to and from school? Do they attend homework or tutoring programs at different sites? Do students do homework at school during breaks? Are there enough computers available for "peak demand?"

How about in-classroom access, discussing literature in English class, or looking up material during labs? How many computers do you need in each classroom for this sort of use? Would a small number of in-class paper books be enough?

I love e-books, but I also worry about the unintended consequences for some students.