LA School Report

How L.A. Unified got its iPad contract Was the Los Angeles Unified School District’s $1.3-billion iPads-for-all program handled properly? Los Angeles Times FBI investigation leaves L.A. iPad initiative in further disarray Sixteen months later, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s “Common Core Technology Project” is a fragmented, fractured mess. Education Week LAUSD students hope for...

While LA Unified officials yesterday dealt with the FBI probe into the district’s controversial iPad program, the school board approved a wave of new instructional hires and promotions despite an on-going hiring freeze. The personnel changes continue a shake-up at the highest levels of the organizational chart that began when Superintendent Ramon Cortines arrived just over...

*UPDATED Twenty boxes of documents now in hand, the FBI is examining records from LA Unified that bear on its digital technology program. By terms of a subpoena, the documents will go before a federal grand jury Friday morning, and evidence of criminal wrong-doing could lead to indictments. But what exactly are investigators looking for,...

* UPDATED There’s a new report that negotiators for United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) might be pulling out at the next round of contract negotiations with LA Unified. A new study by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), finds that LA Unified teachers rank near the bottom of the 113 largest districts in the...

FBI visits LAUSD headquarters and leaves with iPad documents Loyola Law School professor and former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson said seizing of the LAUSD documents signals the FBI is early in its investigation. KPCC Impact of teacher preparation rules unclear The Obama administration last week announced draft regulations to evaluate the effectiveness of more than...

* UPDATED LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines said today he’s delaying the district’s iPad program in the wake of an investigation into it by the FBI. Agents with the FBI visited the offices of LA Unified headquarters yesterday and seized 20 boxes of documents “having to do with the the procedures for purchasing of iPads...

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) issued its annual report today on the growth of charter school enrollment, and the results show another year of significant increases both in LA Unified and across the country. For the 2013-14 school year, charter enrollment in LA Unified jumped 15 percent, giving the district a total...

Agents with the FBI visited the offices of LA Unified headquarters yesterday and seized files related to the district’s controversial $1.3 billion iPad program, a district spokesman confirmed. The FBI action was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, which said 20 boxes of documents were removed and that the seizure came as a complete...

Los Angeles teacher sex case prompts bill on age of consent The state’s criminal code says 18 is the age of consent, but in a civil case LA Unified argued that a 14-year-old consented to sex with her teacher. Sacramento Bee Can collaboration between schools, unions fix failing campuses? The use of student data in...