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Is LA Unified the target of FBI probe, or could it be a contractor?
*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,...
By Michael Janofsky | December 3, 2014
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JUST IN: FBI seizes iPad documents from LA Unified offices
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...
By Craig Clough | December 2, 2014
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For LAUSD, more Chromebooks, iPads means more confusion
Announcing the next phase of the digital device program to buy more iPads and Chromebooks was the easy part. Carrying it out is another issue. While LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines was pretty clear on how he expected it to proceed, others in the district are not so sure. The district’s Chief Facilities Director says...
By Vanessa Romo | November 25, 2014
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Cortines approves next phase of LAUSD iPad program
Let the iPads roll. Again. LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines today approved moving ahead with the next phase of the district’s iPad program, officially known as Phase 2B of the Common Core Technology Project. It’s actually, iPads et. al. The goal with this action is to complete the second round of buying digital devices by...
By LA School Report | November 21, 2014
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Caputo-Pearl asks energetic UTLA rally: ‘Are you ready for a fight?’
The message was clear from United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) President Alex Caputo-Pearl as he spoke to hundreds of energetic, amped-up supporters yesterday: If teachers are going to get the raise and other concessions they are demanding from LA Unified in a new contract, it is going to be a fight. “Now folks, we’ve got...
By Craig Clough | November 21, 2014
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MiSiS system ‘not feasible unless modified,’ says analyst for LAUSD
* UPDATED In a scathing critique of LA Unified’s implementation of its new student data tracking system, a team of independent analysts found problems from the beginning, including an overall “lack of communication or understanding of application stability” critical to the project’s success. In short, Arnold Viramontes, an outside expert hired by former superintendent John...
By Michael Janofsky | November 6, 2014
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The MiSiS cash register is starting to put up some numbers
* UPDATED The MiSiS cash register is starting to ring. Ever since the bungled launch of the student data system, the district has been throwing heaps of money at software problems to get the system functioning properly to meet district, state and federal mandated deadlines. “More than anybody, I want to know how much money...
By Vanessa Romo | November 4, 2014
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PBS SoCal asks: Can LA Unified be saved? Or is it too big?
Can LA Unified be saved? This difficult question is examined in the in latest episode of the PBS SoCal show, “Studio SoCal.” The episode features an in-depth discussion among the hosts Elizabeth Espinosa and Rick Reiff, reporter David Nazar and California Teachers Empowerment Network President Larry Sand, a frequent critic of UTLA, the LA teachers union. It also...
By LA School Report | November 3, 2014
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Cortines ends meetings that take staff out of classrooms
Superintendent Ramon Cortines has suspended all out-of-town travel and off-campus meetings for LA Unified’s teachers, administrators and classified staff, calling the time away from the classroom “unacceptable.” Cortines, who has wasted no time issuing new directives to the staff that he inherited this month from John Deasy, relayed the decision today in a letter to employees,...
By Vanessa Romo | October 28, 2014
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Thesis film examines bitterness of Crenshaw High reconstitution
The battle over the fate of South LA’s Crenshaw High School is now over, but a new documentary film from a UC Santa Cruz grad student takes a fresh and hard-edged look at the bitterness and anger that was unleashed when the LA Unified school board voted to reconstitute the school in 2013. The film,...
By Craig Clough | October 24, 2014