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Via the Los Angeles Times | Editorial

John Deasy, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, can be impatient and stubborn, qualities we often admire in him. It takes a sense of urgency to get things moving in L.A.’s schools, as well as a willingness to stand against the forces that resist change.

But it is important for the superintendent to pick his battles wisely, and he fell short on that score when he forged ahead on a $1-billion project to equip every student in L.A. Unified with an iPad. He expressed great confidence that the district had the answers to a number of important and easily foreseeable problems when, in fact, it didn’t.

Deasy wisely called last week for slowing down the planned iPad rollout. His is a difficult task, finding the balance that will allow him to get all the problems worked out while ensuring that all students have equal access to the latest equipment.

Any project so massive and entirely new is certain to involve some mistakes and, yes, even some waste. That said, it is more important for L.A. Unified to move carefully than to move quickly.

Read the full editorial here.