Tell me, you didn't think the iPad was going to be a hit before you got your hands on one? If you did, why would you suggest that this can't be successful without trying it out? But, apparently, it has been in use by business for a while. ...
In the case that the schools were using the ad option, it is up to the schools to inform the users and parents that email scanning would be used to target ads. But if they are not serving ads in Apps for Education then the school is not under any obligation to inform the users even...