BOISE, Idaho (AP) — State officials say they have awarded an eight-year, $180 million contract to Hewlett-Packard to supply Idaho high school students and teachers with laptop computers as part of the Students Come First education overhaul. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and Public Schools Superintendent Tom Luna announced the winning vendor Tuesday. The decision comes just before voters will decide whether to keep or reject the plan to provide every high school student, teacher and administrator with computers. Otter and Luna say the devices are a critical for students to fulfill a new online-class requirement before graduation. The process for picking a winning vendor has been delayed for several months due to complications in the bidding process. Initially, state education officials hoped to have the first batch of laptops in teachers' hands this fall.

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