Opinion

Schools blow $30 billion on laptops and tablets that wrecked Gen Z

Government schools spent 10 times more on devices than textbooks while Gen Z struggled with reading and math

By Corey DeAngelis Fox News

Published February 27, 2026 5:00am EST

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Leave it to the government school monopoly to blow $30 billion of taxpayer money on laptops and tablets that were supposed to revolutionize learning but instead produced a generation of kids less cognitively equipped than their parents.

U.S. schools spent that staggering sum on educational technology in 2024 alone – roughly 10 times what they shelled out for textbooks. The promise was access to endless knowledge at every student's fingertips, but the outcome has been a cognitive nosedive that leaves Gen Z struggling with basic skills like attention, memory, literacy and numeracy.

Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath laid it out plainly in his Senate testimony: Gen Z marks the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized tests than the one before them. Data from over 80 countries shows the same pattern — declines in IQ, executive function, and creativity, all accelerating around 2010 when digital devices flooded classrooms.

This disaster stems from the same old story: a bloated, unaccountable system that throws money at shiny gadgets to mask its failures. Public schools lack real incentives to innovate wisely or face consequences for poor results, so administrators chase trends. They’ll buy devices en masse under the guise........

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