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“Let them eat iPads”
As it turns out, there are two places today to learn about elements of LA Unified’s Common Core Technology Project. One is a committee meeting, planned for 5:30 p.m. at district headquarters.
The other is a 5 o’clock union protest at Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences, where Tamar Galatzan is hosting a community meeting at 6 to discuss the Common Core State Standards.
Galatzan was the only board member who voted against a compromise measure last week to continue the iPad program for now but study its continuation, thus the union’s indignation. Protest organizers are hoping people show up to complain.
These are likely to be very different events in style, if not substance.
Monica Ratliff, chair of the Common Core Technology Project Ad Hoc Committee, has planned an orderly series of speakers to address survey results, procurement issues and updates on other aspects of the district’s digital program.
Protest organizers say “ ‘Queen Marie Antoinette’—in full regalia—will address the public and dish out iPad-shaped cake.”
Matthew Kogan, a union official, said the intent is to call attention to the district’s plan to provide all district students with an iPad – a policy now under review – and Galatzan’s support for the bond money being used to pay for it at a time other programs are being cut.
Galatzan, a member of Ratliff’s committee, is not attending because it was scheduled after she had previously arranged the community meeting.
She was not alone, by the way, at the board meeting, urging colleagues to press ahead with the technology program, and Kogan said the union might stage protests against others who support the program. It would depend on “if this one’s successful,” he said, adding that the measure of success “is people showing up.”
Previous Posts: LA Unified Board Votes to Reshape iPad Program; Board Turns a ‘Retreat’ into a Special Meeting on iPads.