LAUSD abruptly cancels $1-billion iPad program

Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy canceled the $1-billion program to provide all students with an iPad after public records showed he and his top deputy had developed a relationship with the vendors two years prior to the bidding.

Recently released emails showed that Deasy and his then-deputy, Jaime Aquino, began meeting and corresponding with top Apple and Pearson executives and discussing the effort to give all students, teachers and administrators an iPad.

The superintendent sent the Board of Education a letter Monday informing members of his decision. The superintendent was coming under mounting criticism over the emails and an internal report obtained by The Times last week that showed a flawed process and a lack of transparency, among other things.

Deasy and Aquino appear to have been discussing the school system’s effort to provide students computers equipped with online curriculum with executives from tech giant Apple Inc. and education publisher Pearson at least two years before a bidding process was concluded and the contracts were approved, records show.

The collaboration between the officials and the executives support findings from an internal school district report, which found that officials’ actions could have created an impression of unfairness in the bidding process. Educators -- including United Teachers Los Angeles -- are troubled that Deasy is putting more power into the hands of private entities and less into the hands of parents and the public.