TI's "Beagle" ecosystem has software support at least 1/10th as good as RPI, maybe even 2/10ths.

Not one but two full Debian ports are more than enough to me.

https://www.armbian.com/download/

https://dietpi.com/#download

Things may differ a bit in the educational field because of the vast community the RPi can count on, but Linux is Linux, I don't see why a school shouldn't use a different platform and make the solution of problems, if any, part of the learning process.

Agreed, I would only consider Arduino or ESP32 as alternatives, which naturally don't even have the resources for UNIX clone, which is akin to going back to 16 bit home coding, booting straight into the game or demoscene.

This. Your SBC's ecosystem/support is 10x more important than its specs.

Newer Raspberries also rely on third-party components they have limited control of.

VL805 USB chip in RPi 4 and 5 has known bugs since 2020 which are still not fixed.

Check out Libre Computer if you haven't already!