LXNY -- New York's Free Computing Organization Press Release LXNY Commences Board of Education Campaign On 12 April 2000, the New York City Board of Education approved a plan to supply laptop computers to all students and teachers in the school system from fourth grade up and e- mail and limited Internet access to the entire school popula- tion of 1,300,000. The plan is the work of the 19-member "Learning and Teaching in Cyberspace Taskforce." LXNY discusses this plan in our communiqu' entitled, " Alert -- New York City Board of Education Computer Plan" LXNY is an educational organization dedicated to spreading knowledge of of the free software movement to computer users and to the public at large. LXNY was founded in 1994 by Robert F. Young, who resigned in October 1996 to work full- time as President of Red Hat, Inc. Since then, LXNY has been managed by Michael E. Smith and Jay Sulzberger. LXNY has been actively volunteering in the schools for sev- eral years. We work through the Schools and Libraries Pro- ject, headed by Lucia and Randy Wright, http://www.lxk12.org. This work has been written up, e.g., in the newsletter of the United Way. In 1999, Jay Sulzberger, LXNY Corresponding Secretary, was a recipient of the first Linus Torvalds Community Service Prize (sponsored by IDG). Members of LXNY attended the meeting of the Board of Educa- tion on April 12, 2000, where this plan was presented. At another meeting, LXNY briefly addressed the Board of Educa- tion about the need for free software in the schools. We are currently working to persuade the Board to build the Cyberspace foundation of the school system out of free soft- ware and open standards. Details of the plan can be obtained through the office of the Task Force Chairman, Dr. Irving Hamer. Contact the Deputy Assistant, Cecilia Gutierrez, cgutier@nycboe.net, (718) 935-3301. (MES) ----------- -2- ----------- Michael E. Smith Jay Sulzberger http://www.lxny.org