Is it just us, or does it seem that Apple is having a really hard time getting its head back into the game, educationally speaking? Once the undisputed ruler in school computing sales, at least back in 1999 Apple could argue with Dell about who sold more systems to the folks teaching our wee kiddies. These days, however, Dell wins hands down again and again; we keep hoping that Apple will get its act together to start grabbing back its crown, but it just never seems to come to pass. C'mon, guys, this is no way to earn a gold star.

Things don't appear to be getting any better for the 2002-2003 school year, either. According to Scholastic News, Quality Education Data polled 450 random school districts and asked them about their computer purchasing plans this year. Apparently Dell scores a 35% predicted market share, compared to Apple's 21%. That's not exactly a photo finish, if you catch our drift.

On the plus side, Apple hasn't really slid all that much in the past few years, either; three years ago the company had 22.2% of the education market, and now QED has determined that that's edged down slightly to 21%. That's not exactly a death plunge, and indeed, there's something really gratifying about one in every five education computers sold being a Mac when the number's closer to one in twenty in all markets combined.

Better still, when you look at the installed base, as opposed to new machines being purchased, QED claims that "Macintosh is the single most common brand of instructional computer in schools today." Hubba hubba. Unfortunately, that still only comes out to maybe a 30% share, meaning there's more than twice as many Wintels of various brands lurking in our schools than Macs. And with Dell alone now selling almost twice as many educational systems as Apple (and various other Wintel vendors presumably filling out the rest of the pie), it sounds to us like the Mac's presence in school is just going to keep dwindling.

Unless, of course, Apple has some really big ace up its sleeve-- but we've been waiting for a Secret Weapon™ for years, now, and Apple has come up with pretty much zilch. About all we can hang our hopes on now is all the positive press and kudos currently being lavished on the state of Maine, who just gave iBooks to each and every single one of its seventh-graders. Will other schools follow suit and flood Apple with orders for portables and AirPort gear? Fingers crossed...