Following the release of internal emails that suggested inappropriate contact between Superintendent John Deasy, other LA officials, and top officials at Apple and Oearson, Deasy canceled the contract and announced he would start the bidding again.
The LA Times wrote:
“The suspension comes days after disclosures that the superintendent and his top deputy had especially close ties to executives of Apple, maker of the iPad, and Pearson, the company that is providing the curriculum on the devices. And an internal report that examined the technology effort showed major problems with the process and the implementation.”
In a memo
to the board, Deasy presented the cancellation of an ethically-challenged contract as an opportunity:
“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 [Common Core Technology Project] and receive new information from the California Department of Education regarding assessments,” Deasy wrote.
The remaining question is whether the LAAUSD board will hold Deasy accountable for the inappropriate meetings with the winning bidders, the use of repair funds from a bond issue, or any other aspect of the fiasco.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Our Broad sup in Dallas, Mike Miles, had a preferential bid scandal too. Like Deasy, his paid for and stacked school board, let’s him run rampant. I predict that they will not hold him accountable.
Common play book for Broad: would be amusing to see these “superintendents” “training” sessions…sort of:(
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Lets
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I’m hopeful that in the near future graduating from the Broad academy will disqualify people from working as admin in public school districts.
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I wonder if Apple or Pearson have any opinions about whether the city is entitled to “cancel” the contract.
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LOVE it !!!!!!
IF they do and raise a law suit, perhaps LAAUSD will see Deasy as a liability and zap him like a purple bug light with a live wire . . . .
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Indeed, I’d love to see the looks on their faces as the discovery process proceeds, should they choose to sue for breach of contract.
Actually, let’s hope they do, since that might force a parting of the ways between the City of Los Angeles and Mr. Deasy (and is that “Deasy as in Greasy, or Deasy as in Sleazy?”)
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The scariest part is that he believed the devices and Pearson programs would increase test scores and graduation rates, quickly:
“I’m not going to be interested in looking at third-graders and saying, ‘Sorry, this is the year you don’t learn to read,’ or to juniors and saying, ‘You don’t get to graduate,’” he told KPCC in May 2012. “So the pace needs to be quick, and we make no apologies for that.”
That same month, emails show Pearson’s CEO and a sales rep met Deasy for lunch to pitch him on software under development that would harness the power of tablets. Using games, videos and other interactive elements, they said, it would revolutionize education and help struggling students like his.
Deasy jumped right in, documents show.”
He has to be asked why he believes that, what that is based on, because we are being told by the people promoting this that they do NOT believe it is a quick fix for schools.
If they DO believe that they should say so, and explain why they believe that.
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As am education professional and blogger here almost since Diane gave us the opportunity to connect, and as one who has told the facts of this story since Jaime Aquino was made to fall on his sword to protect Eli Broad’s imposed lackey, John Deasy, over a year ago, I thank Diane and also the investigative journalists who broke this information, Howard Blume of the LA Times, and Annie Gilbertson of KPCC.
Now that the California, and the national, public knows truth, not fiction, it is incumbent on us all to remind the greater public repeatedly, that today is only the latest spin by Deasy to ‘break the contracts he signed, for the greater good.’ This spin probably was manufactured over the weekend by Broad’s major law and PR firms, to once again save their boy, Deasy’s, skin.
But the facts speak for themselves starting with Deasy’s first terrible executive decision to put all Mira Monte teachers in teacher jail for the crime of one of their colleagues despite traumatizing students and innocent teachers. A pattern has definitely emerged of the Broad Academy trained Deasy (who was foisted on LAUSD by Broad and then mayor, Villaraigosa with no search and no competition) and he makes consistent inept decisions. Maybe he skipped the Broad classes on how to implement business models, as he seems to have skipped the university hours required to recieve a legitamate PhD.
He continues to collude with Parent Rev and United Way to bus in inner city actors to do orchestrated media acts in support of him, but parent/teacher/taxpayer protestors who are horrified at the antics at Beaudry and LAUSD are not given the opportunity to tell the real story.
When will the elected BoE say “enough”???
I would hope that at the BoE meeting today, the topic for discussion in their secret room, unseen by the public, will be this pattern of wasting the taxpayers money with $1 Billion iPads and other under the table deals, and now with MiSiS failures which cost thousands of students days of not having class assignments.
There must be and an EXTERNAL INDEPENDENT AUDIT, and even a Grand Jury investigation.
The job of the BoE is to represent the public, their employers. So far they seem only to cover up for Deasy and Broad.
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I’m glad they investigated, but I wouldn’t be celebrating Deasey’s troubles if I were a public school parent in LA. They are going to have a lot of trouble when they go back for more public funding of schools, because people will think they’re reckless and irresponsible with funds.
“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 [Common Core Technology Project] and receive new information from the California Department of Education regarding assessments,” Deasy wrote.
This is the reason NOT to overcommit to a particular supplier or device or platform at the outset. That he NOW understands this is really disturbing. Why didn’t the (obvious) value of “taking advantage of ever-changing marketplace” inform the initial decision to roll this out everywhere with a huge investment in one device and one supplier?
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“That he NOW understands this is really disturbing. Why didn’t the (obvious) value of “taking advantage of ever-changing marketplace” inform the initial decision to roll this out everywhere with a huge investment in one device and one supplier?”
It’s possible that he understood it all along, and is just spinning things to make himself look less like the corporate puppet that he is.
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These guys think they are so special they are entitled to exceptions to the rules. Conflict of Interest is dead- when was the last time anyone was convicted for it?
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Exactly Chiara…Californians will not be voting for any more school bond procurement given that Deasy swiped the $1 billion from the Construction Bond meant to build and repair schools that are falling apart.
The use of these funds to do a dirty deal for soon to be obsolete IPads, or any quickly outmoded tech, is outrageous. We, the taxpayers will be paying the interest on these bonds for the next 25 – 30 years.
Remember only weeks ago when Deasy attempted to pillary Stuart Macgruder who had the insight and the nerve to question this short sighted decision by Deasy.
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It’s interesting that if a similar arrangement were made or engaged in by a lower official or teacher, such as a principal or superintendent, there would have been hell to pay and probably swift and effective dismissal of that person.
But because it’s Deasy and his higher position, it’s hard culturally to achieve justice.
Law suits, anyone?
Matt Farmer, where are you? Would you have time?
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“Now that you’ve caught me doing something unethical, you can rest assured I’ll never get caught agai — I mean, do anything unethical again! TRUST me!”
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I wonder if Deasy has stock in Apple. Apple’s stock split 4 ways last week.
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So let me get this right. If you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar it is an opportnity do something different with the cookies.
Or if you get caught robbing a store with a gun it is now an opportunity to teach gun safety and conflict resolution.
Or if you get caught with you pants down and a naked neighbor it is now an opportunity to teach sex ed. and proper hygine.
I have a better idea. Now Deasy, the board, and the DA have an opportunity to teach ethics, integrity and reintroduce an antiquated concept called shame.
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Don’t do it right until you’re caught. Then play it off as “opportunity.”
There’s a lesson for a superintendent to model for kids.
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Mercedes…the Broad lawyers who save Deasy repeatedly, have studied carefully The Art of War. This ancient philosophic rule book teaches how to spin and feint. Thus today, Deasy says the many who oppose him do not have the best interests of children at heart. And now he calls it an opportunity to do even more to bring the children their civil rights and to prepare them for a successful future in the form of possibly cheaper electronic devises. It continues to be all smoke and mirrors at LAUSD.
There must be an external independent audit to learn how he has spent taxpayers money…and a Grand Jury investigation…and though I am being redundant, it would help us in California if others around the country would chime in by writing our BoE and the LA Times.
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One of the LAUSD board members, Steve Zimmer, a teacher, states that he feels the board still supports the concept of iPads(or other devices) for all. He also used the word “transformational” in a radio interview last Friday. Chiara is correct to ask exactly what evidence Deasy and any other board member can refer to that demonstrates that iPads will revolutionize education. So far, we’ve only heard predictions.
Of course, the word on the street is that Deasy stood to make out like a bandit with this deal. No one knows whether or not he’ll be compensated monetarily or if his best buds in the reform world have promised him a bigger job. What is an accepted fact is that he is incredibly ambitious.
But the elephant in the room is what’s to come if Deasy gets the board to fulfill his intent to supply every student, teacher and administrator with their own device. The network costs that will allow each device to stream hi-def video at the same time will be astronomical. Also, the cost of IT to keep the devices up and running 24/7 have also not been taken into consideration in any way. After all, Deasy’s plan is to use computers to ultimately deliver ALL instruction, not just math and English. These costs WILL NOT BE BOND FUNDABLE in the near future, including replacement of devices, and will have to be paid for out of the general fund. As a result, we will see class sizes, which are already amongst the highest in the country, explode again. To pay for this, we will see more TFAs and the like hired to fill the spots of the more experienced teachers who are either sent en masse to teacher jail or quit due to horrific conditions. Schools will suffer due to broken heating and air conditioning and disrepair of buildings and playgrounds. Going to school will literally be a hazard to children’s safety. We’ve already seen suspended ceilings falling, leaky roofs, broken asphalt, non-functioning bathrooms and water fountains, vermin due to cut backs in custodial staff, etc., etc.
These are the questions that need to be asked of every board member. Exactly where do they think this kind of expenditure is going to take us in terms of the quality of education in the very near future? So far, none of them have dared bring that up.
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“The network costs that will allow each device to stream hi-def video at the same time will be astronomical. Also, the cost of IT to keep the devices up and running 24/7 have also not been taken into consideration in any way.”
LAUSD never thinks of things like this, always reactive, almost never proactive. It’s SOP. No wonder they are resisting an adequate raise for teachers. Time to fire the Emperor.
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LA folks seem to have short memories. It was only a bit over 10 years ago that the BoE voted down WiFi in schools after being presented with informed professional stats and info that towers on school sites could be damaging to the brain development of small children, that is students from K – 4. They decided not to use WiFi in the primary grade schools.
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What about Magruder’s original challenge; that the bond money was approved for maintenance and construction, not technology?
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My letter sent last night to the LAUSD Board of Education, with copy to the Bond Oversight Committee:
Dear Board of Education:
Relative to latest shocker at http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/08/25/17202/la-schools-cancel-ipad-contracts-after-kpcc-publis/, it is quite a brazen pronouncement from the Superintendent: he is simply says “never mind” to his multi-million dollar (to date) iPAD plan. He treats taxpayer money and children’s education as simply a video game where if he screws up he can just start over with no consequences. Will the BOE allow this?
The problem all along was not just that 1) the procurement process from the beginning was clearly rigged, if not downright illegal, and produced 2) a bad contract but 3) there was no plan further than just buying overpriced toys with a cheesey message about “technology” and “civil rights.” There was never any holistic plan for how this would educate our children. There needs to be one and the BOE should demand it.
I believe the public needs an audit and investigation of this formerly grand but now abruptly aborted iPad purchase: what has been spent – bond money and general fund – on what and where are the iPads now and what is going to be done with them? What about the Pearson software that was paid for – *but never delivered?*
The questions that were asked last year about an overall plan have never been answered and must be answered before proceeding with yet another giant outlay of taxpayer money and new RFPs. What is the curriculum? Training for teachers? How much extra support staff is needed? And how much does it cost and where is that money coming from? *How will this help educate our children?* The same non-answered questions from last year still need answers about replacement costs for the devices – whatever they are – and the software. What is the policy for data collecting? How about the take-home or not issue? How many security “experts” will be added to the budget instead of teachers or smaller class size? How much more money is expected to come out of bond money and added to the general fund?
I expect the BOE to demand these answers from the district before approving anything further. There needs to be a written plan from the superintendent before proceeding. I personally don’t think he’s up to the task (I haven’t even touched on the MISIS issue). This is not about one bad contract but a pattern of incompetence and malfeasance and flat out indifference to education.
Kim Kaufman
Los Angeles
cc: Daniel Hwang –
For distribution to the Bond Oversight Committee
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“I personally don’t think he’s up to the task (I haven’t even touched on the MISIS issue). This is not about one bad contract but a pattern of incompetence and malfeasance and flat out indifference to education.”
He never has been up to the task, nor has he ever cared about actual children, despite all his smarmy pronouncements to the contrary. He’s a narcissist in love with power and needs to be shown the door.
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Too bad all we can do is show him the door. How about tossing him into an awake and aware rattle snake den where he may feel like he’s at home?
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Exactly.
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Deasy – the ever moving spin doctor
Peace, beats and beauty sleep,
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There is also an article in today’s print edition of the LATIMES, online version appeared yesterday.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-deasy-ipads-20140826-story.html
Less than an hour ago, comments on the above were at 65; now they are at 90.
While I appreciate the previous comments on this thread, I would like to point out two things.
First, we are now going through the rebranding/recalibration phase of “ed rheephorm”—to wit, Michelle Rhee is now Michelle Rhee-Johnson; CCSS and its conjoined twin of high-stakes standardized testing are not a done deal right right now but we can take our time; VAM doesn’t have to be 40% or 50% but can generously be lowered to 30% or 35%; and so on.
But note that the tactical shifts and turns are being touted as part and parcel of “public education” not “charters/vouchers/privatization.” Hence the latest episode in the iPad fiasco is being branded as simply another sorry chapter in the ongoing pathetic story of America’s “factories of failure” aka public schools. Even when the “ed reformers” lose, they make sure everyone else loses too.
Second, Apple doesn’t want to be stuck with the label of “greedy” and “sneaky” and “underhanded” so they have an interest in rebranding/recalibrating too. Previous revelations were hurting their brand value; time for damage control.
I conclude with the obvious but necessary point: that is why this blog and others and other activism of those in favor of a “better education for all” are absolutely essential.
At moments of relabeling and spin and distortion and half-truths and lying-by-omission, clarity and honesty and facts matter.
Thank y’all for your comments.
😎
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You’re right, Krazy TA–
Ed Reform “Rebranding” is going to accelerate rapidly.
In response to two Sunday ago’s article by UC-Berkeley professor David Kirp “Teaching is not a Business”, the NEW YORK TIMES published its letters in response: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/opinion/sunday/teachings-human-touch.html
First one up was form Kevin Huffman decrying its straw man tactics and stating that Ed Reform looks nothing like what he describes.
Another letter comes from Scott Cowen of Tulane University, lauding the extraordinary success through Charaters of what has happened to education in New Orleans post-Katrina.
Arne Duncan is now poo-poohing “high stakes testing” like whoever thought he ever was for it wasn’t really listening to him.
Their furious retreat is necessary because so many have wised-up to their ways. But of course, they aren’t going away.
John Deasy’s rebranding of the iPads and his role in its inception reveals how evolutionary malleable these people are in their need to do to survive. How do we repackage what we did? How, like a Rand Paul, can we run away from our past actions and statements as fast as we can so that you look at what we say RIGHT NOW.
I hope John Deasy doesn’t survive in LA (but I’m not holding my breath). Remember. As bad as Deasy is, he is just one model (albeit a very adept model) on a very long conveyor belt of similar Broad/Gates/Walmart funded pods that they devote millions to grow and cultivate.
Like weeds, this is an endless chore to eradicate. Big Money can grow a Superintendent with their special chemicals much easier and quicker than a Community Farm can, but I think we all know what is more healthier and better for the educational environment.
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Geronimo: I have a simple solution to John Deasy’s plight.
Let Ms. Patrena Shankling decide his fate. After all, she knows better than almost anyone how competent, professional, experienced and compassionate he is.
¿? Here’s a description of the Supe and Ms. Shankling written by a huge Deasy fan. Not smelling like a rose…
Link: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/14/local/la-me-0414-banks-20120414
And for those that think “even steven” and “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander” and “play fair” shouldn’t apply, I rheephute your pusillanimous objections with the ‘Michael Jordan’ [as Dr. Raj Chetty would say] of all rejoinders:
“I reject that mind-set.” [Michelle Rhee]
In a most Johnsonally way, of course…
😎
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You’re right, Krazy TA.
John Deasy’s treatment of Patrena Shankling is emblematic of his entire tenure at LAUSD.
Everything he did in that classroom is what he did to our school system. He came in with his own arrogant, insulting and holier-than-thou methodology and, lo, brought down his fiery wrathful judgment on all of us–not just Ms. Shankling. This includes all our schools, our kids and the community we serve.
This man who operates in the secret plush Bat Cave enclaves of the retreats of his sponsors, puts forth his pronouncements on us mortals. The latest revision of the IPad strategy is his entire modus operendi. Everyone is supposed to look at what He (and whoever else is in the funny mask and underwear) has unveiled and nod our heads in placid acquiescence.
Yes sir.
Great idea, boss.
We’ll get right on it.
At some point everyone has to say enough already. Yertle the Turtle doesn’t get to decide all the time how many of us have to be stacked under his bum for him to get to Providence.
Patrena Shankling was at the very bottom of a pile that now has many more bodies burdened by this man.
Enough, already, LA School Board (and District Attorney).
Enough.
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Deasy is a snake-oil salesman. He got caught letting corporations eat from LA Unified’s cookie jar as he held the lid and urged them to cram in their mouths.
Now that he has been caught, he’s making it sound as if this is a good thing.
Yea, sure! Deasy must think everyone else in the world is a fool but him.
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“Deasy must think everyone else in the world is a fool but him.”
He does seem to have an element of P. T. Barnum to him, doesn’t he?
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LOL
Only an element?
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Rebranding = LYING
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Ellen pretty much summed up the iPad fiasco. All I have to say is Deasy needs to go and go quickly. No high priced pay out to him and any other senior staff involved in this scandal. If the BOE ignores this monumental breach of law and ethics, we know that they were involved also. To even consider Deasy being in control of any additional expenditure of funds is crazy. His past practices of cronyism and malfeasance have to be addressed and stopped in our district. To turn over any decisions that require procurement to a person who awarded unbidded contracts to friends is insanity. What I want to hear from the Los Angeles Bd of Education is we have had enough and we will not take this anymore. To continue with him as superintendent in the face of so much continued corruption is to support these activities. I for one do not and I’m guessing the L.A. taxpayers feel the same.
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