Note to Senator Obama and Senator McCain: One Laptop Per Child Continues Rollout

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has the goal of providing cost efficient computing for children of developing countries. It is an educational mission and a recent success was in Niue:

“The One Laptop Per Child programme has lived up to its name in the tiny South Pacific nation of Niue, where 100% of children now have one.

500 of the programme’s XO laptops were distributed this week to primary and high school students.”

link: One laptop for every Niuean child

In light of Craig Barrett’s educational concerns for the United States, American educators should be lobbying vigorously to be placed on an equal footing as the children of developing nations. There are American school districts, perhaps in your city, that would benefit significantly from each child having a laptop. Perhaps Senator Obama and Senator McCain, in the tradition of “a-chicken-in-every-pot”, could make it a campaign commitment to put a OLPC machine into the hands of every inner city school-age child within twelve months - and into the hands every school-age child of every state by the mid-point of the term of office.

Senator McCain / Senator Obama, make that a campaign commitment - a personal promise to the children and parents of the nation - and watch the poll numbers climb. That would be a promise that would be respected across all demographic boundaries, regardless of gender, sex, religion or whatever. It simply would give so many American children a fighting chance.

Catherine Forsythe