LAUSD Seeks Input on Controversial Changes to the School Year

The L.A. Unified School District (LAUSD) bought approximately 40,000 iPads at $768 each, and pre-loaded with software from Pearson, a major textbook publisher and online educational tool creator. If so, almost all the money repaid by Apple will be used to buy computers through a fresh program. This partnership would have helped Apple earn around $30 million in the first phase, after which the completion of the program would have helped the iPhone maker earn around $250,000.

Apple is paying, however, because it subcontracted Pearson for the apps and digital curriculum, which one LAUSD project manager said it requires “extraordinary, unsustainable, and un-scalable resources”. It didn’t take long for the initiative to crumble, and LAUSD – accused of mismanagement, miscalculation and corruption among other things – is now under FBI investigation for the bidding process that spawned the contract.

The Board of Education is expected to vote on whether or not to finalize Apple’s settlement offer.

In all, the phone system collected 58,000 responses, but the district also received about 50 complaints, according to the Los Angeles Times. That deficit is known as the “the homework gap”, where students have the devices but can’t use them at home because of a lack of WiFi access.

Students saw the iPad as a “fun” gaming environment, while the Chromebook was perceived as a place to “get to work”. This then forced the LA school to temporarily halt the distribution of devices. The fact that students had found a way to remove the restrictions and have a personal iPad in their hands did not sit well with the company.