Apple today criticized Microsoft’s proposed settlement of consumer class-action lawsuits, in which it would donate refurbished computers, hardware and other resources to the nation’s poorest schools, according to The Associated Press. In a statement released today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the settlement would encourage Microsoft to extend its monopoly power into education—”one of the few markets left where they don’t have monopoly power.” Critics of the proposal agree that Apple would be among the hardest hit if Microsoft was allowed to push its products and software into more than 12,500 of the nation’s poorest schools. Apple also filed a brief with U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz in Baltimore, who began hearings today by saying that he did not know which way he would rule and wanted to hear arguments from everybody.