voiceofsandiego.org/education: Schools' Technology Choice Draws FBI Interest
Posted: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 3:51 pm | Updated: 4:15 pm, Wed Apr 28, 2010.
The way in which the San Diego Unified School District chose a specific brand of technological tools has drawn the interest of the FBI, according to a local businessman who sued the school district over it...
...Like the other school systems, San Diego chose to only allow the Promethean brand of whiteboards in its classrooms. That meant that companies vying to install the boards had to purchase and install Promethean, not any other brand on the market. Here and across the country, selecting a specific product has raised questions and stirred up debate about fair competition in awarding work in schools....
...Tucson schools also chose Promethean as their sole whiteboard brand and used a state contract to obtain the boards, something that San Diego did too. The Arizona attorney general found that the Tucson school district violated state laws when it bought boards without approval from the school board and skirted the need to competitively bid for some items...
Sounds just like what MCPS CFO Larry Bowers and Superintendent Jerry Weast did here in Montgomery County.
ReplyDeleteOnly here they leased the things to shift them from the Capital Plan into the Operating Budget and further hide the deal from public scrutiny. Further, they entered into a multi-year spending commitment without an supporting appropriation and without informing the county fiscal authority.
I say rip em right off the wall and send them back. They may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but what are we teaching our children when we say its okay to acquire things by breaking the rules and the trust of those you are paid to serve.
Bob Astrove
What do we have to do to get the FBI to look over thisaway?
ReplyDeleteAnd don't miss these excellent stories by the same reporter: "Legal Questions on How Schools Chose Their Whiteboard Brand" dated February 25, 2010, and found at: http://voiceofsandiego.org/education/article_f1baf388-1b76-11df-a719-001cc4c03286.html
ReplyDeleteAnd: "A backlash against classrooms with high technology, and no air conditioning", Feb. 16, 2010, found at: http://voiceofsandiego.org/education/article_f1baf388-1b76-11df-a719-001cc4c03286.html
What about when the PTA buys one for a school? What about when parents get fed up with the lack of technology and decide to pitch in, much encouraged by the administrator of a school?
ReplyDelete