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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Schooling in the Ownership Society: How Greasy Deasy Funneled $1 Billion to Pals at Pearson, Apple

Schooling in the Ownership Society: How Greasy Deasy Funneled $1 Billion to Pals at Pearson, Apple:



How Greasy Deasy Funneled $1 Billion to Pals at Pearson, Apple

Greasy Deasy

Howard Blume at the L.A. Times reports that L.A. Supt. John Deasy (the man from Gates) and his chief deputy "developed a special relationship" with executives from Pearson and Apple, the companies that won a billion-dollar technology contract. Blume says it raises new questions about the fairness of competition in the effort to provide a computer to every student in the nation's second-largest school system.

It looks like Deasy's then-Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino did most of the dirty work, strategizing with higher-ups from Pearson, on how to ensure that it got the job by undercutting competitors in the bidding process..
"I believe we would have to make sure that your bid is the lowest one," wrote Aquino, who was an executive with a Pearson affiliate before joining L.A. Unified.
 "Understand your points and we need to work together on this Schooling in the Ownership Society: How Greasy Deasy Funneled $1 Billion to Pals at Pearson, Apple: