Sankarshan has an interesting article for Linux in Schools based on the total cost of ownership:
FreeBSD and Linux systems can be of enormous benefits to school business models. While these operating systems have long been adopted as the backbone of the IT industry, running web-servers and the like, they are also in areas of mission critical importance replacing Microsoft and Novell File Server(s). The Linux operating system and other OS under the umbrella of OpenSource or Free Software movement can be obtained for free from the local Linux Users Group – nothing comes cheaper than that. Yet the price may not be the only advantage that schools will obtain from such a switch over. Recent developments in application suites entail that a wide array of established and presumed applications and operations are handled by such OSs. Moreover, the unique networked environment in schools makes Linux a better choice.
