LAUSD ditching Pearson iPad program software, demanding multimillion dollar refund
Los Angeles Unified told Apple Inc. this week that it will not spend another dollar on the Pearson software installed on its iPads and is seeking a multimillion-dollar refund from the technology giant.
If an agreement cannot be reached, the nation's second-largest school district could take Apple to court.
"While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution for ITI implementation, they have yet to deliver it," David Holmquist, the school district's attorney, wrote in a letter to Apple's general counsel. The ITI, or Instructional Technology Initiative, is the district's name for its iPad program.
Holmquist said the district is "extremely dissatisfied" with the work of Pearson on its technology initiative to get computers into the hands of each of the district's 650,000 students.
"As we approach the end of the school year, the vast majority of students are still unable to access the Pearson curriculum on iPads," he wrote.
L.A. Unified's $1.3 billion iPad program has been fraught with problems, from issues getting the technology to work in the classrooms to questions about how the tablets were procured.
The FBI launched an investigation into the purchase in December, carting out 20 boxes from the district office on bidding material, communications and other records involving Apple and Pearson.
An investigation published by KPCC last August found former Superintendent John Deasy and top district staffers had close ties with Pearson executives before the contract was awarded.
District officials purchased Pearson's software even though it was unfinished, and teachers complained the material seemed rushed: lessons were missing math problems and reading material and included errors. The software also lacked many interactive elements that were promised, teachers said.
“[Pearson] missed the whole point of technology — individualized instruction, all the material in the palm of your hand," said Ben Way, a math teacher at Alliance Cindy & Bill Simon Technology Academy, a charter school that also purchased Pearson's iPad app.
Pearson and Apple executives could not be immediately reached for comment, but Pearson representatives maintain they have held up their end of the deal.
"The course content has been complete for over a year," wrote then-Pearson spokesman Brandon Pinette in an email to KPCC in September. "Yes, there are important enhancements to add as there always will be. We will add twice a year. No digital product should ever be considered complete."
