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4 L.A. schools defer iPads, citing security, liability issues
Four Los Angeles schools, scheduled to receive iPads in this first rollout of the tablets, have pulled out of the initial phase, saying that they want to wait at least until security and other issues are resolved. The rejection apparently is temporary — the schools still want the tablet computers — but their stance underscores ongoing problems faced by the L.A. Unified School District as it attempts to provide every student with a tablet. LA Times
L.A. Unified stakes reputation on iPad program
Commentary: There is more at stake than test scores in the effort to provide iPads to 600,000 Los Angeles Unified students in time for the state’s upcoming switch to online achievement exams. If my inbox is a measure of public opinion, the district’s credibility is on the line in ways that may haunt the school system for years to come. LA Times
Tablet-computing initiatives suffer major setbacks
Two large-scale efforts to put digital devices in the hands of students, including the largest deployment to date of the much-publicized Amplify tablets, have been halted because of a variety of problems. In the 73,000-student Guilford County, N.C., school system, officials announced this month that they have suspended the use of tablets and related equipment provided by Amplify, an independent subsidiary of the global media conglomerate News Corp. EdWeek
Bill to limit ‘involuntary transfer’ of expelled students vetoed
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Saturday that would have required greater transparency from districts about the process of involuntarily transferring expelled students, and other students, to alternative schools and the process for allowing those students to return to regular schools. EdSource
Hollywood arts school gives struggling teens a second chance
Early last year, Jonathan Mayorga threw a punch that changed the course of his life. It happened during soccer practice at his charter school, Bright Star. Mayorga, 14, said he stopped to get a drink of water when a student gave him a shove and tried to hit him. As it had many times before, rage flowed through him — Mayorga is no stranger to schoolyard fights — and he swung a fist. KPCC
Poverty, more than race, affects college-going, study finds
High-poverty schools sent significantly fewer graduates to college in 2012 than higher-income schools, regardless of the schools’ geographic location or racial makeup, according to a new study by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Yet in the longterm, more students may be making it to college than previously realized. EdWeek
‘An Education in Equality’
Commentary: When our son Idris was 4 years old, he was accepted to the Dalton School, a prestigious private school in Manhattan. Idris would become one of only a few black boys in a kindergarten class of about 90 students, where tuition rivaled that of private colleges. We decided to document this new world, following Idris over 13 years through graduation. New York Times