Despite growing iPad program, LA school board member seeks to expand computer labs
; Credit: via www.galatzangazette.com Los Angeles Unified school board member Tamar Galatzan wants to spend $290,000 in bond money for computer labs for five of her San Fernando district's elementary schools. The new computers, which include a range of tablets, desktops and laptops, will come in addition to L.A. Unified's plan to equip all students with an iPad. The request was approved by the bo
Former L.A. schools superintendent: bonds weren't meant for iPads
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William Johnston, who was superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District during the 1970s, is urging officials to stop using bond funds to buy iPads - leading an oversight committee to take up the issue Thursday.
"I believe the current purchase of iPads with school bonds is illegal," Johnston said in a letter addressed to the chairman of the district's bond oversight committee, Steve English. "New developments and technology will make them obsolete, requiring replacement. School bonds are designed to buy property, build schools, equip schools with lasting equipment."
The committee has sided with the current administration, recommending the school board use school construction bonds to expand the iPad program. Once fully implemented, it's expected to cost $1.3 billion, most of which will be spent on upgrading wifi at schools.
Johnston asked that the committee explain its thinking. It will take up the issue at it's meeting Thursday.
But in a written response to Johnson earlier this month, English said the iPad purchases are legal because the voter-approved measures said some of the money
Teachers: LA schools' arts education budget 'a step in the wrong direction'
Los Angeles Unified School district is proposing to cut the time that elementary students spend learning how to play musical instruments from a full school year to one semester, to serve more students across the district. ; Credit: Ken Scarboro/KPCC A plan by the Los Angeles Unified School District to cut the time elementary school children are taught orchestra in half is angering teachers - many
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Child abuse higher in areas of extreme income inequality
Jayleen Cardenas, 2, runs into the yard of her family's trailer home in Pomona. Many families in Pomona can’t afford preschool – about 20 percent live in poverty.; Credit: Grant Slater/KPCC Children who live in areas of extreme income inequality may be at higher risk for maltreatment, according to a new study from Cornell University. Based on five years of data from the National Child Abuse and N
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Advocate proposes $44 million increase in early education for L.A. schools
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) officials joined students, staff, elected officials, members of the community and special guests to cut the ribbon on the new Glassell Park Early Education Center last year.; Credit: LAUSD A civil rights advocacy group is proposing the Los Angeles Unified School District spend $44 million over the next three years to restore 2,000 preschool and child ca
New bill seeks to ask voters legalize bilingual education in California
Los Angeles County leads the state in the number of schools that offer bilingual education starting in kindergarten; Credit: Maya Sugarman/KPCC A new bill introduced in Sacramento this week, aims to overturn a 1998 proposition that made bilingual education illegal, but is widely ignored. Called the “Multilingual Education for a 21st Century Economy Act,” SB1174 calls for its own referendum, on th
LA Unified arts budget: most funds will go to 'arts integration' teachers
Renaissance Arts Academy, a charter school in Los Angeles Unified School District, has a 22,000 square-foot open classroom and stage lights hanging from the ceilings.; Credit: Maya Sugarman/KPCC The Los Angeles Unified School District plans to increase spending on arts instruction by nearly $16 million over the next three years – but the majority of the new money will go to hire 101 “arts integra