Ever since the FBI seized documents in December related to LA Unified’s controversial iPad program, there have been no public updates on the case, but now it appears that the LA Unified school board and its legal department see trouble coming. It is just a single line in the agenda for tomorrow’s closed board meeting,...

* UPDATED With the launch of the new Technology Initiative Task Force yesterday, LAUSD is restarting its approach to integrating technology and instruction in the classroom after the last effort ended with an FBI probe. The Common Core Technology Project drew criticism from the start, in part for questions over the procurement process with software publisher...

LA Unified has hit yet another snag in its attempt to get laptops into the hands of students as part of the district’s beleaguered computers-for-all plan. More than 19,000 laptops —  part of the newly renamed Instructional Technology Initiative Phase 1L pilot — were scheduled to be delivered to 21 participating high schools by September....

A $1.3 billion project fraught with controversy and a long list of disappointing results produced its first positive news in some time yesterday, as LA Unified reported a high level of success and satisfaction at a handful of schools where students were allowed to take home their district-issued iPads and other digital tablets. Members of...

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines has invited Judy Burton, a former associate superintendent of innovation and instruction in the district, to serve as chair of what is now known as the Instructional Technology Initiative, nee the Common Core Technology Project. Cortines said Burton, founding president and CEO of Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, would work with...

Rebranding is not just for discount stores, fast food chains and soda anymore. How about for a school district? To change the public perception of a project at the center of LA Unified’s two ill-fated programs — iPads and MiSiS –Superintendent Ramon Cortines is renaming the Common Core Technology Project. It now goes by the...

Agents with the FBI visited the offices of LA Unified headquarters yesterday and seized files related to the district’s controversial $1.3 billion iPad program, a district spokesman confirmed. The FBI action was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, which said 20 boxes of documents were removed and that the seizure came as a complete...

A decision by LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines to proceed with the next phase of the district’s controversial iPad program appears to contradict statements he made a month ago, opposing the use of construction bond money to pay for devices pre-loaded with curriculum. Three days ago, Cortines gave the go-ahead to spend capital improvement funds...

Let the iPads roll. Again. LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines today approved moving ahead with the next phase of the district’s iPad program, officially known as Phase 2B of the Common Core Technology Project. It’s actually, iPads et. al. The goal with this action is to complete the second round of buying digital devices by...

Board member Tamar Galatzan volunteered yesterday to lead a task force examining LA Unified’s email deletion and retention policy, which is intended to eliminate unnecessary emails even as some some board members fear it could lead to the destruction of important records. “It is critical that the public have confidence in the district’s commitment to...