It’s not clear what they’re investigating, but the DoJ subpoenaed everything related to the $70M program to give Ipads to all 650K kids in the district.
Teachers say that they were inadequately trained to use the Ipads in their classes, and that the censorware on the Ipads didn’t stand up to the kids’ attempts to hack around it (for more on this, see our op-ed today from sophomore Nathan Ringo about privacy, censorship and Ipads).
The AP spoke to a former federal prosecutor who speculated that the subpoena might relate to an improper bid process on the contract, or that the program improperly used capital funds for the purchase of short-lived equipment.
Hundreds of students initially given iPads last school year found ways to bypass security installations, downloading games and freely surfing the Web. Teachers complained they were not properly trained to instruct students with the new technology. And questions were raised after emails were disclosed showing Deasy had been in communication with vendors Apple and Pearson before the contracts were put to bid. He resigned under pressure, in part from the iPad troubles, in October.
While it remained unclear exactly what aspect of the iPad project ? one of the biggest technological undertakings by an urban district in the U.S. ? the FBI was investigating, legal experts and education observers immediately focused on Deasy’s relationship with Apple and Pearson and the use of construction bond proceeds to spend money on a short-term device purchase.
FBI Seizes Los Angeles Schools’ iPad Documents [Christine Armario/AP]
(Image: student_ipad_school – 093, Brad Flickinger, CC-BY)
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