It’s January, 2015, and K-12 News Network has been doing ground-breaking, people-powered public education news covered from the classroom up for FOUR years now! Thank you, readers, bloggers, and activists, for being folks actively making a new kind of education news. Some highlights from our first four years: In August, 2010, when the LA Times […]
Los Angeles Unified Must Refocus: Five Ways Bad Ed Tech Deals in LAUSD Hurt Kids Right Now
Recently released investigative reports by Southern California radio station KPCC have increased public scrutiny of Superintendent John Deasy’s cozy relationships with Apple and Pearson executives in the period 2011 to 2013, before both corporations won the 2013 bid to supply Los Angeles Unified with iPads and software. This is the infamous “$1 billion iPad” deal […]
Why Didn’t LAUSD Perform A Tech Review Before iPad/MiSiS Purchase?
Bad ed tech deals continue to plague LAUSD — currently starting its second month of meltdown, the MiSiS student tracking and class scheduling software mandated by a court-ordered consent decree is a ticking time bomb for high school seniors who need transcripts in order to apply to college and finish classes in order to graduate […]
Commentable Version: Chair’s Report on The Common Core Technology Project Ad Hoc Committee
Many have wondered what the Chair’s Report on the Common Core Technology Project Ad Hoc Committee actually says. This is the committee that has formally tracked progress and implementation of LAUSD’s ed tech program. We’ve obtained a publicly-released copy of the 118-page report, written under the leadership of LAUSD School Board Member Monica Ratliff (official […]
BREAKING: Mixed Messages From Superintendent Deasy In Reply to KPCC Investigative Report on iPad Procurement
In breaking news after the initial revelation that cozy talks between Superintendent Deasy and his upper-level staffers and Apple Corporation/Pearson may have violated open bidding rules, KPCC is now reporting: Deasy seemed to say that the emails unearthed by KPCC address a “pilot” rollout of iPads and not the final $1 billion plan, but the […]
BREAKING: American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles, Resubmits Stuart Magruder Appointment to LAUSD Bond Oversight Committee
This press release was issued by the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles chapter just now. It calls for the re-appointment of Stuart Magruder to a second term on the Bond Oversight Committee that has been providing professional feedback on Los Angeles Unified use of bond funds for school facilities. AIA-LA Statement, LAUSD Citizens Oversight […]
LAUSD School Board Tries to Un-Appoint iPad Watchdog Stuart Magruder From Bond Oversight Committee
Karen Wolfe is an LAUSD parent activist and supporter of public schools with children who currently attend district schools. LAUSD Wants Rigor? Well, maybe… The LAUSD school board on Tuesday rejected the reappointment of one of its most rigorous overseers in what many see as retaliation for questioning the use of bond funds to purchase […]
Real Technological Literacy for Public School Kids Instead of iPads for Tests or Code.org
By Cynthia Liu, K12 News Network Cynthia Liu is CEO/Founder of K12NewsNetwork.com, an education news and civic engagement platform for students, parents, and educators based in Los Angeles. In sixth through eighth grade classrooms in Pasadena Unified School District, elective Robotics classes hum with activity as teams of excited kids use laptops to build robots […]
LAUSD iPads and the Will of the Voters: Just the Facts, Please
Commentary by Public Policy Educator, Ellen Lubic, Director, Joining Forces for Education Today, Diane Ravitch posted on her website an article on the LA Times editorial which once again lambasted the Board of Education for micro managing the ‘poor beleaguered’ Superintendent of LAUSD, John Deasy. The title of Diane’s writing is Putting Bureaucrats First. Evidently the LA […]
Open Letter to the LAUSD School Board on Superintendent Deasy's Performance
Roberta Eidman, MPH, is a public health expert and past adult education lecturer in LAUSD. If you too would like to share you concerns with the Los Angeles Unified School Board, their emails are below: Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net Monica.Garcia@lausd.net Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net Monica.Ratliff@lausd.net boarddistrict5@lausd.net Marguerite.Lamotte@lausd.net Szimmer@lausd.net Kelli.Bernard@lacity.org (Kelli Bernard, Mayor Garcetti’s Education & Workforce deputy) Dear LAUSD Board Members: […]