Readers of Bach Seat should remember the botched $1.3 Billion iPad deal the USA’s second-largest school district made with Apple (AAPL). rb- I covered the massive failure here and here. Well, it seems that buyer remorse has finally set in.
The LA Times is reporting that the Los Angeles Unified School District is now demanding a multi-million dollar refund from Apple or they may sue their former partner. In a letter obtained by LA public radio KPCC, to Apple’s general counsel, David Holmquist, LAUSD attorney wrote,
While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution for ITI implementation, they have yet to deliver it … the vast majority of students are still unable to access the Pearson curriculum on iPads … will not accept or compensate Apple for new deliveries of [Pearson] curriculum.
Others have called this deal an incompetent, unconscionable betrayal of LA by people who are so ignorant about technology it’s scary to imagine them responsible for anyone’s education.
Margot Douaihy documents the shameful history, which has included firings, resignations, an FBI investigation, an SEC investigation, and the $22 million “d’oh” moment when district officials realized for the very first time that iPads don’t come with keyboards.
The LA Times also reports that a top lieutenant of former LAUSD Supt. John Deasy and architect of the district’s flawed and now-abandoned $1.3 billion iPads-for-all and new online student records system is now taking the helm of the Burbank school district at $241,000 a year. Why?—because Burbank BoE believes they need someone with business savvy to sort out their technology.
rb-
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck while the FBI and SEC are investigating, it is probably a politician.
Related articles
- Los Angeles Schools Want Refund For Failed iPad Program (nbcnews.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.