Does the future of great schools apps, require leveraging Google Apps for EDU?

I think the answer to this is yes.  Apps are moving to the cloud, and schools are moving to Google.  Apps that leverage the Google Apps account log-in, and integrate within the Google GUI make it easy for schools to deploy, as well as students and staff to utilize.  There are already some great free apps that integrate within the Google Apps GUI.
Easybib, Engrade, ExamGeneral, SlideRocket, and recently the new OpenClass product developed by Pearson. Everyone of these apps are currently free to schools. We recently deployed SlideRocket. This is an awesome presentation program that recently released the product free to schools with Google Apps.  This is a solid product, that brings the power of a top-tier presentation product combined with similar sharing and collaboration features of Google Docs.  Here is a sample, of a recent presentation I presented using this great tool.