LAUSD Cancels Contract with Apple

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Josue Perez in News

Josue Perez
Crimson Chronicle Reporter

A contract with Apple that would supply LAUSD schools with iPads has been halted, Superintendent John Deasy announced Aug. 25th.

Before Deasy announced the suspension of the contract, ties were discovered between him and former Deputy Superintendent Jaime Aquino, as well as with executives of Apple and Pearson, providers of curriculum on iPads. According to an LA Times article, “Emails… showed detailed… contacts between Deasy, Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino and the corporate executives.”

Before Aquino had become Deputy Superintendent of LAUSD, he was an executive at Pearson. “In one email… Aquino seems to strategize with higher-ups from Pearson on how to ensure that it got the job. ‘I believe we would have to make sure that your bid is the lowest one,’” the Times reported.

Apart from the political side of the suspension, an internal report of the iPad rollout showed that there were serious problems.

“The iPad rollout, I’m all for it, [but] I would prefer to have laptops,” Principal Alejandra Sanchez said in a news conference. Apart from supporting the Common Core Technology Program (CCTP), she said the logistics of the program were not worked out and many things were not thought through.

Schools were not adequately prepared for the job of handling the new equipment. In the past year, the district has been hard at work improving the network infrastructure for the CCTP. However, administrators and teachers have not been properly trained on how to handle and use the tablets.

LAUSD received a large amount of criticism about how fast the CCTP was working and deploying the new tablets. Many problem had occurred due to the speed. An article on LAUSD’s website says, “The Common Core Technology Project was designed in phases for exactly this purpose…to take the time to pause and reflect along the way. Only then can we take stock and make refinements as we continue to broaden the program to additional schools.”

Apart from deployment problems, issues had arisen over the security of the devices. The problem of students “hacking” the tablets and changing settings. However, LAUSD reported, “No student has hacked into a device, compromised security, nor has any wireless system failed to function. In truth, some enterprising high school students were able to switch the settings on their tablet in order to access non-educational content outside the District’s firewall.”

Deasy has also announced that the CCTP will restart in the future, along with a laptop pilot program that will supply schools with laptops. LAUSD will take this time to “learn from their mistakes” and improve the program. Deasy said “it will also give us time to take into account concerns raised surrounding the CCTP and receive new information from the California Department of Education regarding assessments. We will incorporate the lessons learned from the original procurement process.”