Every governor who has ever served the state of Maine -- probably those who've served other states, too -- would confirm that at least one initiative becomes so associated with you that it is used against you as a bargaining chip amid repeated claims that "the governor is just concerned about his legacy."

For Gov. Angus King, that was the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, or the "laptop giveaway" as it was labeled in press reports during the time it was being debated in the Legislature in 2000 and 2001.

While as much effort went into other initiatives that were just as important, as soon as "Lunchbox to Laptops" was announced in early 2000, it became King's legacy, largely because he was the only one who supported it at the time.

One legislator wrote a column published in the Bangor Daily News on March 23, 2000, that ended this way: "Personally, I will sleep peacefully now that I have put the needs of the many Mainers who feel this program is unjustified first."

The next day in the Portland Press Herald, a business owner wrote that, "Gov. King's laptop giveaway would be an educational Trojan Horse."

E-mails to the governor's office were 10 to 1 against putting laptops into the hands of students. One letter from a parent said the tool that his seventh-grade son most needed was a chainsaw, not a laptop. Another letter claimed that Maine shouldn't lead because it was a poor state.

Support from educators and a real-life example in Guilford helped convince the Legislature that the program should be given a shot and, in 2002, Maine became the first and only state in the nation to provide laptops and wireless classrooms to each and every seventh- and eighth-grade student in the state.

Now, each day, 40,000 Maine students and 4,000 teachers use their computers to steadily transform the way that we teach and learn.

Leaders from around the globe look to Maine as setting the standard in the field of one-to-one learning technology, which Apple Computers defines as "an environment where students and teachers have 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week access to a notebook computer as well as digital content, educational software and digital authoring tools."

Educators and political leaders from Sweden, Great Britain, Australia and Nigeria have visited Maine to see the program in action.

We have research conducted at the University of Southern Maine that shows that the program increases student academic performance in math and writing, raises student engagement, strengthens problem-solving skills, increases access to information and resources for learning and transforms teaching and learning in Maine's middle schools.

This recent note from a parent to King puts the program in real perspective and makes the challenges of creating it seem very minor:

"I hope all is well with you, I thought of you the other day when I read in the Press Herald about the academic improvements Maine middle-school students are realizing as a result of your laptop program and I wanted to share with you what having a laptop has meant to our son.

"When our son was in his first years of school, writing was a big problem for him. As parents, my wife and I struggled to understand what was going on since he was an avid reader and a great storyteller. We finally had him see a specialist who let us know that his fine motor skills were so poor that holding a pencil and writing were a huge chore for him. His brain was moving so much faster than his fingers that he'd quickly become frustrated and shut down. After a lot of work and drills with a pencil and paper, he managed to get a little better, but he generally did as little writing as they'd let him get by with in school.

"Last year, he entered 7th grade and got his laptop. Over the previous years he had developed pretty good typing skills and now that he could compose on a computer, his writing took off. Not only is he writing more and doing better work, he actually sits down on occasion and composes essays and poems just for fun. He is now in the 8th grade and today my wife and I joined him for his teacher conference and heard about what a terrific job he's doing in the advanced language arts class, particularly with his writing. When his adviser asked what has helped him improved so much in this area, my son said, 'Everything changed when I got my laptop.'

"I simply want to pass that along and say thanks for developing this program. It has meant the world to our son!"

Kay Rand is former chief of staff for Maine independent Gov. Angus King.