I know if I was given a school laptop, the first thing I would do is run out and buy a huge, quick Flash drive and install a persistent Linux distro on it. I'd never even touch the installed OS unless I was at school.

What do they do when they tear up or lose a book? What do they do when they tear up or lose a gym uniform? What do they do when they destroy other things required for school?

Pay for it.

If someone else screws it up, they pay for it if it can be proved they did. One way to see this is as a great teacher of a responsibility for things which one possesses but does not own.

I assume see it from your point of view, too: you wouldn't want your kid carrying it because he or she might lose/damage it or someone else might damage it, and you'd be stuck with the bill. If you're not willing to take that risk, then spend the money ahead of time to get your kid an equivalent or better machine which he or she can use at home.

Eventually, all textbooks will be on these school-provided portable computers. With the ever-rising cost of modern textbooks, a cheaper netbook loaded with site-licensed PDF textbooks costs less than a locker full of paper books!