For work and school, the EE is unquestionably the best choice. The much larger eInk screen makes note-taking, reading of technical documents and annotation practical (all of these are possible on the PE, but much more awkward). Once you've used the PE for a while, the EE is like a luxury Cadillac - big and spacious

The larger size tends not to be inconvenient in these environments since the size is similar (and often smaller!) than what you'd normally be carrying (i.e., binders and textbooks).

The LCD layout you're mentioning is likely just the selection of icons added to the home screen. The software on both devices looks and works the same, differing only in screen real estate.