LAUSD officially ends 'iPads-for-all' contract with Apple
Ramon Cortines, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, on Tuesday announced the official termination of a plan to equip local schools with $1.3 billion worth of Apple iPads, a project fostered by his predecessor last year.
As of today, LAUSD has scrapped a landmark iPad in education initiative meant to provide Apple's tablet to students and educators within the district's schools, reports the Los Angeles Times. The decision announced on Tuesday was supposedly unrelated to a surprise FBI seizure of 20 boxes of documents from LAUSD's headquarters on Monday.
"We're not going to use the original iPad contract anymore," Cortines said. "I think there have been too many innuendos, rumors, etc., and based on my reading of a great deal of material over Thanksgiving, I came to this conclusion. As CEO and steward of a billion-dollar operation, I have to make sure things are done properly so they are not questioned."
LAUSD, with uncontested Board of Education approval, first inked a $30 million agreement with Apple last June as the initial phase in what would become an ambitious $1.3 billion rollout. The district subsequently earmarked $115 million for additional supply as the project grew beyond 47 seed campuses.
Since initial funding came from voter-approved bonds, "iPad-for-all" was controversial from the start. Further confusing issues was mismanagement and a nebulous funding plan devised in part by former schools Superintendent John Deasy, who championed the iPad initiative as a civil rights issue. Also in question was the bidding process and ongoing budget issues, the latter stemming from a misunderstanding of Apple's bulk purchase discount terms. Facing criticism, Deasy resigned in October.
Other issues with the program included a security breach in which students found a way to bypass school-imposed content filters, prompting LAUSD to halt home use of the tablets.
As noted in today's report, Cortines' decision will delay 27 schools from receiving iPads already approved last year. As an option, the campuses can swap out iPads for Google's Chromebook under a separate deal authorized by the board in June.
As of today, LAUSD has scrapped a landmark iPad in education initiative meant to provide Apple's tablet to students and educators within the district's schools, reports the Los Angeles Times. The decision announced on Tuesday was supposedly unrelated to a surprise FBI seizure of 20 boxes of documents from LAUSD's headquarters on Monday.
"We're not going to use the original iPad contract anymore," Cortines said. "I think there have been too many innuendos, rumors, etc., and based on my reading of a great deal of material over Thanksgiving, I came to this conclusion. As CEO and steward of a billion-dollar operation, I have to make sure things are done properly so they are not questioned."
LAUSD, with uncontested Board of Education approval, first inked a $30 million agreement with Apple last June as the initial phase in what would become an ambitious $1.3 billion rollout. The district subsequently earmarked $115 million for additional supply as the project grew beyond 47 seed campuses.
Since initial funding came from voter-approved bonds, "iPad-for-all" was controversial from the start. Further confusing issues was mismanagement and a nebulous funding plan devised in part by former schools Superintendent John Deasy, who championed the iPad initiative as a civil rights issue. Also in question was the bidding process and ongoing budget issues, the latter stemming from a misunderstanding of Apple's bulk purchase discount terms. Facing criticism, Deasy resigned in October.
Other issues with the program included a security breach in which students found a way to bypass school-imposed content filters, prompting LAUSD to halt home use of the tablets.
As noted in today's report, Cortines' decision will delay 27 schools from receiving iPads already approved last year. As an option, the campuses can swap out iPads for Google's Chromebook under a separate deal authorized by the board in June.
Comments
Let's see what he has to say a year from now when his first batch of chromebooks have been destroyed by the students simply by typing on them.
One small step [backwards] for mankind.
Mankind has taken many grand steps forward without the need for a iPad, or any computer.
LAUSD (pronounced “loused”) is right...
And they've done the majority of them in the last fifty years with computers. Your point?
And they've done the majority of them in the last fifty years with computers. Your point?
To err is human. To really foul things up you need a computer.
..and I am sure the decision has NOTHING to do with Bill Gates' Common Core curriculum that is being forced upon public schools in exchange for new laptops..
I beg to differ but that's a matter of opinion. I think that we're regressing because of computers. This entire planet was mapped out pretty accurately without the help of satellites, yet with all the technology at our fingertips we still get lost on a simple road trip.
yet with all the technology at our fingertips we still get lost on a simple road trip.
You should switch to Google Maps.
Yeah, because going into space, landing on the moon, sequencing DNA, breaking down the Iron Curtain, spreading the concepts of freedom, bringing the world closer together than ever before, helping people express themselves like never before, all these are signs of societal regression. /s
Brighter light can cause darker aspects to be revealed, but we should work to overcome those. The light isn't the cause of the darkness, it merely reveals it.
So since this might have seemed like an under-the-table deal, where people might have maybe been paid a bit to push for iPads... let's just accept the blatant payola for Microsoft and Google products instead... screw the actual children that are there to learn.
You know what, I actually chuckled at that.
Even though Apple Maps is fine.
Well get a load of this one. The FBI has raided the offices of LAUSD and carted off twenty boxes of records. Looks like they are investigating the ‘close’ relationship between the former superintendent and Apple executives. The above article only mentions this in passing.
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2014/12/fbi_raids_lausd_officers.php
I sure hope there are no allegations of collusion or kickbacks coming. That would be a ‘gate’ to end all ‘gates.’
I beg to differ but that's a matter of opinion. I think that we're regressing because of computers. This entire planet was mapped out pretty accurately without the help of satellites, yet with all the technology at our fingertips we still get lost on a simple road trip.
We wouldn't have a lot of the scientific breakthroughs we have if it weren't for computers, more specifically supercomputers. And if human kind is to make the next great leap of discovering / colonizing space, find a cure for major diseases, etcv., I guarantee you won't do it without computers
Socially we've progressed somewhat. People ignore those around them at a all time high. Intellectually we've regressed. Where are all the new symphonies, the new timeless works of art? People know the price of everything but the value of nothing.
Our educational system finds it difficult to pay our teachers significantly more than the minimum wage. Is this news really much of a surprise to anyone?
Yeah like a Chromebook is going to get anyone anywhere these days..... sheesh! - I think this is more the old world not understanding the new world. New world is tablets and apps and online education. The old world is Microsoft and web based applications. Educators and administrators need to keep up. There is an entire new generation of children out there and the stats show that they are not using Chromebooks, Microsoft Laptops or even google android devices. They are using iPads, iPods and Apps and the vast amount of educational material that they can contain. They don't want chrome books ?!? Put the controversy to bed.... Give the children what they want or they are going to be singing the "Wall" for the next 30 years.
Google overtakes Apple in the US classroom
3 Reasons Why Chromebook Beats iPad in 1:1 Programs