LA schools halt plan to give students iPads after contract concerns, meddling kids

By Williams Pelegrin August 26, 2014

iPad air front home 3 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Back in June of last year, Apple made a deal with the Los Angeles School Board of Education to distribute an iPad to each of Los Angeles United School District’s 640,000 students. Unfortunately, Superintendent John Deasy announced that the future use of the contract has been suspended, potentially killing the program, reports the Los Angeles Times.

“Moving forward, we will no longer utilize our current contract with Apple Inc.,” wrote Deasy in a memo sent to the Board of Education. “Not only will this decision enable us to take advantage of an ever-changing marketplace and technology advances, it will also give us time to take into account concerns raised surrounding the [project].”

Related: Apple starts production of new iPads, Air includes anti-reflective coating — report

The program, which was supposed to start its rollout last September, was delayed due to students finding a way to bypass restrictions placed on the iPads that made sure the tablets would be used only for school work. In October of last year, it was reported that the L.A. United School District made a budget miscalculation, with the real cost of the program significantly higher than anticipated. Most recently, in June of this year, the district decided to move forward with the program, but with laptops instead of iPads.

According to the latest report by the Los Angeles Times, new information surfaced that the superintendent and his top deputy had close ties with Apple executives and Pearson, the latter of which provides the curriculum on the devices. iPads that have already been ordered will still be deployed at 52 schools.

Related: Our favorite back-to-school tablets are perfect for game theory or Game of Thrones

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Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

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