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38% of educators say investments in devices will increase in the coming school year, according to EdWeek’s School District Purchasing Priorities 2026-27 report. Only 14% of districts say they’ll spend less.
The pressure to find cost-efficiencies persists, especially when making tech purchases while also tying technology decisions to instructional outcomes, cybersecurity, accessibility, and long-term operational sustainability. District leaders are shifting procurement conversations from what should we buy, to what technology is sustainable and worth keeping long term?
At the same time, instead of focusing on return on investment (ROI), school leaders are evaluating tech more on “return on instruction,” according to Susan Moore, director of instructional technology at Meriden Public Schools in Connecticut.
Still, with school budgets remaining a significant concern, many school systems are reevaluating how they pay for and contract for K-12 IT procurement needs.
To say that K-12 IT procurement has become complex is an understatement. Decisions you make in this area now affect nearly every operational and instructional function across your district. Decisions about K-12 education wireless solutions, student devices, cloud platforms, and cybersecurity all have significant financial and operational implications.
It’s not enough to find the best available technology at the lowest price. Finance and business teams must also consider:
Cybersecurity concerns have also become central to school technology planning. We all got a good lesson in that when millions of students in universities and K-12 districts had their data compromised in May because of the hack that took down Canvas.
From online testing platforms to digital curriculum tools and hybrid learning applications, school districts depend on stable and scalable wireless infrastructure every day. As a result, K-12 education wireless solutions have become one of the most important technology investment areas for many districts.
Modern school networks must support:
District procurement teams must evaluate wireless infrastructure based on future scalability and long-term operational sustainability. That often includes standardizing equipment, consolidating suppliers, and improving visibility into district-wide technology spending.
Many schools that weren’t investing heavily in technology used emergency relief funds to buy laptops, Chromebooks, and digital devices for students to help with remote learning. Move ahead a few years and many of these devices already need to be replaced. Without federal funding, this will be a challenge.
Tim McNeese, director of information technology for Williamson County Schools in Tennessee, put the challenge intro perspective. “It’s hard to do anything without cutting something that is salary related,” he told eSchool News. Nearby, Freddie Cox, chief technology officer for the Knox County Schools in Tennessee, said he’s trying to figure out how to replace devices for 60,000 students.
School districts will have to find the money, and that means more pressure on procurement teams to find long-term, cost-efficient solutions. That means sourcing technology and considering:
Technology sourcing often requires lengthy bid processes, supplier evaluations, compliance reviews, and pricing negotiations. Cooperative purchasing with E&I Cooperative Services helps districts simplify these challenges through competitively solicited contracts that already align with public-sector compliance regulations.
Using cooperative contracts can help districts:
As the only member-owned, nonprofit cooperative focused exclusively on education, E&I Cooperative Services helps K-12 districts simplify technology sourcing. E&I leverages the combined purchasing power of more than 6,500 academic institutions to realize significant cost savings, often including exclusive incentives for partner schools.
E&I competitively solicits cooperative agreements on behalf of its members, including top-tier suppliers. For example:
Depending on the specific technology solutions you need, E&I has more than 50 cooperative agreements already in place in the IT and IT services category.
View cooperative contracts from E&I Cooperative Services. Simplify K-12 IT procurement and reduce your purchasing costs.