FBI agents paid a surprise visit to the Los Angeles Unified School District on Monday, taking away 20 boxes of documents related to the school district's troubled iPad project, the Los Angeles Times reports. Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines told the Times agents stopped by late Monday afternoon and he alerted the district's general counsel to notify the board of education. KPCC has independently confirmed the information. The district has been under fire over the iPad program, which launched last school year with the aim of giving every student and teacher a personal tablet. The district chose Apple and textbook publisher Pearson to provide the devices.
It was expected to cost $1.3 billion. An investigation from KPCC revealed that the district had been in talks with Apple and Pearson long before the bidding process was formally opened - and that some bid specifications closely resembled the iPad and Pearson's proposed software, which was still under development. Former superintendent John Deasy canceled the contract and resigned under intense pressure after those stories aired and were published.
Guests:
Annie Gilbertson, KPCC education reporter
Laurie Levenson, former federal prosecutor and a professor at Loyola Law School