I am an elementary school teacher, I teach a grade 4/5 classroom. I have a small computer lab (20 computers) in my classroom consisting of a mix of Windows, OS X, and Linux. I've built up the lab over the years on spare, throw away computers. At home I run Slackware and FreeBSD. My students are not intimidated by technology and adapt easily to a variety of desktops, OSs.
I've run Linux/Unix for 6-7 years; I'm self taught with no formal IT background.
Sadly, many of my colleagues do not understand the concept of open source software. This does not, however, make them poor educators. Universities do little to prepare us for implementing technology in the classroom.The adoption of FOSS is an evolutionary process and it will take time. I'm doing my part to spread the word about alternate ways of computing.
We need to be patient.