GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – By the fall of 2014, one Michigan school district wants every student – from the third grade up – to have his or her own laptop computer to take advantage of cutting-edge learning opportunities.

But district officials want parents to pay for the computers, which some argue is not fair, considering the amount of tax money the district collects from residents.

But “parent-pay” may not be necessary in the budget-challenged East Grand Rapids school district, according to Michael Van Beek of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free market think tank.

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Van Beek notes that the district spent $2.02 million on health insurance for its 133 teachers during the 2010-11 school year. That averaged out to $15,187.97 per educator, and it’s a safe bet those costs have only increased since then.

Currently, the district pays most of the teachers’ health insurance, with educators splitting the costs of any annual premium increases that surpass a set amount. Last year, each East Grand Rapids teacher ended up contributing $40 a month, reports Michigan Capitol Confidential, a publication of the Mackinac Center.

Van Beek estimates that if teachers paid 20 percent of their insurance premiums, like many private sector employees do, the district would save more than $400,000 a year.

If the district shopped around for a more affordable insurance plan – instead of purchasing coverage from MESSA, a union-affiliated insurance carrier that offers “Cadillac” quality plans – the savings would increase to $672,000 per year.

“Just that change would allow the school to buy about 1,800 laptops a year, based on the least expensive computer available on the school’s website,” Capitol Confidential reports.

That would be enough computers for every current middle and high school student.

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EGRPS Superintendent Sara Shubel told Confidential that any future savings from the employees’ health insurance plan would be used to prop up the district’s sagging budget, not provide students with laptops.

“ … (B)ut it is something we would consider in the future if we are able to maintain financial stability,” Shubel said.

Using school funds to benefit students instead of school employees – now that’s an idea every bit as cutting edge as the district’s laptop program.