The Los Angeles school district will spend $50 million in bond funds to equip students at 47 schools with tablet computers.
The school board voted last week to supply devices to 31,000 students starting this fall.
The vote was the first step in a program to spend a total of $500 million to provide every district student with an iPad or similar personal computing device by 2014.
Board President Monica Garcia said in a statement that the program will ensure low-income students have the same opportunities as more affluent ones in a technology-driven world.