From the LA Times, by reporter Howard Blume. For the complete story go here.
Contact info: howard.blume@latimes.com @HowardBlume
The Los Angeles Unified School District is seeking to recoup millions
of dollars from technology giant Apple over a problem-plagued curriculum
that was provided with iPads intended to be given to every student,
teacher and administrator.
To press its case, the Board of
Education on Tuesday authorized its attorneys in a closed-door meeting
to explore possible litigation against Apple and Pearson, the company
that developed the curriculum as a subcontractor to Apple.
L.A.
schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines “made the decision that he wanted to put
them on notice, Pearson in particular, that he’s dissatisfied with
their product,” said David Holmquist, general counsel for the nation’s
second-largest school system. He said millions of dollars could be at
stake.
And:
The $1.3-billion iPad effort was a signature program under then-Supt.
John Deasy. But it faltered almost immediately during the fall 2013
rollout of the devices. Questions later arose about whether Apple and
Pearson enjoyed an advantage in the bidding process; an FBI criminal
investigation is ongoing.
And:
Under the contract, Pearson was to provide English and math
curriculum. The district selected Pearson based only on samples of
curriculum — nothing more was available.
L.A. Unified made the
deal anyway; it wanted to bundle the curriculum and the device into a
single price. A three-year license to use the curriculum added about
$200 to the $768 cost of each iPad. The entire purchase then was
financed through school construction bonds, which can be used to
purchase computers.
L.A. Unified bought 43,261 iPads with the
Pearson curriculum. The district purchased another 77,175 iPads under
the contract without the Pearson curriculum to be used initially for
state standardized tests.
I hope parents start waking up to the corruption that is Pearson. It is our money being spent. Our children being used as guinea pigs with the test and we all will pay--- while Pearson makes money. MCPS has failed to be thoughtful with our children. Shame on MCPS for a tech program that has complete disregard for the educational needs of students.
ReplyDeleteThe Wireless radiation issue ALSO has been poorly handled. It was this iPad program in LA that spurred let's from Doctors to tun off the WiFi because of the serious risk to children's health. http://safetechforschoolsmaryland.blogspot.com/2015/03/wi-fi-on-steroids-what-schools-can-do.html
Marketing, Advertising, Profit Margin.
ReplyDeleteMore like buyer's remorse. Anyone else surprised that the State of California is buying IPads instead of water conservation items?
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to be a teacher. I have loved teaching over the years. There are so many roles that a teacher must play, and each day is different, interesting, challenging and rewarding. Imagine the excitement when we returned to school this year and informed that each and every one of our students were going to be assigned a chrome book! MCPS brought us the chrome books. We had two 45 minute trainings and the students had one 45 minute training with the computer gurus from central office. All ready to begin our chrome book adventure. So much excitement at the beginning! So, MCPS brings us the chrome books, we assign one to each student and pass them out. Still excited and hopeful and excited for about a week.
ReplyDeleteGuess what I do now? Teach? NO. I am now a chrome book policeman. I spend each and every day hopping around our room trying to monitor 30 ten year olds on their chrome books. Parents, you know. It's challenging trying to monitor our own children at home. Imagine trying to give instruction while monitoring 30 students! Enough about my new job. Very importantly, I am wondering if any school in MCPS sent a letter home to parents or any document asking for permission to loan their child a chrome book or at least, a warning concerning student damage to their assigned chrome book? We have been told that if a student's chrome book is in need of replacement, for any reason, the student's parent must pay for the replacement of the student's assigned chrome book. I believe that would be about 300 dollars. Janis, is this legal?