Apple just scored a big win with the education industry last night as the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced it has signed a $30 million contract with Apple to supply its students with iPads in the classroom.

The terms of the contract show that Apple will provided the iPads to LAUSD at a cost of $678 per iPad. That price is a bit above retail, but the iPads will come pre-loaded with a bunch of educational software, and Apple’s giving them a three-year warranty as well.

Apple SVP Phil Schiller had the following to say about the deal in the official press release:

“Education is in Apple’s DNA and we’re thrilled to work with Los Angeles Unified public schools on this major initiative as they plan to roll out iPads to every student across 47 campuses this fall. Schools around the world have embraced the engaging and interactive quality of iPad with nearly 10 million iPads already in schools today.”

AllThingsD reports that the deal was approved by the LAUSD school board by a unanimous vote of 6-0. Apple will supply the school district with about 35,000 iPads to be used at LAUSD’s 47 different K-12 schools.

“The Board voted unanimously for Apple because iPad rated the best in quality, was the least expensive option and received the highest scoring by the review panel that included students and teachers,” said Jaime Aquino, LAUSD Deputy Superintendent of Instruction. “The vote is another step forward in the District’s plan to equip every one of its students with a device by 2014. When completed, the LAUSD will become the largest district in the nation to provide each of its students with the technology.”

Tim Cook has stated in the past that he’s been surprised at how quickly the iPad is being adopted in education, and the LAUSD deal should provide a nice boost to fuel Apple’s growth.

LAUSD is the second largest school system in the U.S., so the contract with Apple is a pretty big endorsement. Other school systems will likely look at LAUSD’s iPad program when considering their own technology programs.

Source: Apple