Mac vs Windows

In my school board the majority of elementary schools use Macs, while PCs seem to be the platform of choice in the secondary schools. At present our board is at a bit of a crossroads. The board has a computer "infusion" plan on the go whereby they want to create a sustainable standard and staff/student ratio of computer workstations. The problem is that the windows based machines are significantly less expensive than the Macs. At present the board is conducting open meetings, both online and public, for staff to give their opinions for or against continuing to be a dual platform board or switching to Windows. As you can imagine the secondary panel is fine with going strictly windows, however some in the elementary panel are almost beside themselves at the thought.
Having used both my two cents are that there is often a reason that one product is much cheaper and it doesn't always relate to economies of scale.