The TTFA placed 1,376 computer systems in California classrooms in 2000, its first year of full operation. The CDC is its largest refurbishing partner, fixing up about 70 percent of the systems placed. The rest are repaired by juveniles in the California Youth Authority lock-up and Marines in the brig at Miramar Air Base. Our refurbishing partners are absolutely crucial to the program. As a nonprofit, we couldn't survive if we had to pay for the repairs.
Supply is colossal, the demand is insatiable, and the labor is captive.
It's actually cheaper to donate the material than pay for its disposal, and new legislation has increased the tax break for donations. But computers are not exactly flowing into classrooms. While inmate refurbishment programs have enjoyed modest success, scandal and inadequate funding have stunted their growth. California's program still hasn't recovered from a scandal that discredited its original nonprofit partner, an organization called the Detwiler Foundation . Some schools also complained about the low quality of the equipment.