Dive Brief:
- Los Angeles Unified School District cannot afford to supply each student with device, according to interim Superintendent Ramon Cortines.
- The news is the latest fallout from the district's well-publicized and failed $1.3 billion tech initiative, which flaunted the promise that every student would get their own iPad.
- The failed iPad plan was approved by former superintendent John Deasy and is currently under federal investigation.
Dive Insight:
The iPad plan started in the 2013-14 school year and, while awesome to think about, had anything but a smooth rollout. From the start, there were issues ranging from a lack of necessary accessories like keyboards to students deleting security profiles and "hacking" the devices. In October of that year, a decision was made to slow the rollout process, and by the following summer, Deasy announced that the district's contract with Apple would be annulled. Of course, that couldn't be the end of the saga. This past October, Deasy resigned amid rumors that there were conflicts of interest surrounding the Apple deal. In December, the FBI stepped in to figure out what exactly went down with the potentially unorthodox and unethical bidding process. According to the Los Angeles Times, Deasy and/or other top district officials possibly had connections with Apple and Pearson — a big no-no!
Given that the LAUSD plan was poised to be an example for other districts and now the district can't afford 1:1 learning, there are sure to be some more lessons on what not to do before all is said and done.
