Tennessee Educational System

Current State of Affairs

• Currently, purchasing of educational computers is based on contracts made at the state level. These contracts allow for large educational discounts from the approved contractor. This usually dictates what is bought because of the low price.
• To change what OS goes on the hardware bought, a case must be made to all important officials within a district that argues for savings in price of OS, plus proves that student progress will not be negatively affected by the change.
• Although the personnel will change from district to district, usually three to four people will need to be persuaded of the benefits of the shift:
  • Curriculum Director
  • Technology Director
  • Director of Schools
  • Technology Purchaser

• The key may be to focus small and move slow. In the district where I work, we have moved all elementaries from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice to save money on licensing. Administrative people are not averse to FOSS, but they need to be shown the way, maybe a little at a time.