First a chicken in every pot, now a laptop...

Illinois' Lt. Governor wants to provide laptops for every 7th grade student in the state, according to this story in the Chicago Tribune. Based on some improvements in student acheivement and goals at a school with a laptop agreement with Apple, Pat Quinn thinks students statewide should have them.

Apparently, the only hangup is the funding mechanism. Quinn wants to use a portion of the retail sales tax that is rebated to the retailers. I can't really speak to the details of Illinois tax law, but the laptop thing is a great idea. It helps level the economic playing field and provide kids one of the key tools in today's economy at an age where they can get the most benefit out of it.