0pen Lettei to the Civil uianu }uiy, Los Angeles Supeiioi Couit

Civil uianu }uiy Foiepeison

Claia Shoitiiuge Foltz Ciiminal }ustice Centei
21u West Temple Stieet (11
th
Flooi, Room 11-Su6)
Los Angeles, CA 9uu12

0ctobei 2u, 2u14 (maileu)

Beai Civil uianu }uiy Foiepeison:

0vei the past yeai, we've heaiu many news iepoits about how the iPau ueal
aiiangeu by the foimei supeiintenuent hau pioblems. Now at the stait of this
school yeai on August 11, 2u14, uifficulties with the NiSiS stuuent scheuuling anu
seivices tiacking softwaie has continue to this uay. Ny uaughtei is cuiiently being
haimeu by this incompetence.

News iepoits have uocumenteu extensive pioblems :

! the iPau tablets neeueu keyboaius in oiuei to be useful foi testing
! theie was no family use agieement, oi policy about allowing them to go
home oi stay in the classioom
! it wasn't cleai if they weie textbooks ("e-books" loaueu with cuiiiculum) oi
computeis anu theiefoie consiueieu fixtuies as with a computei in a
computei lab
! textbooks vs fixtuies makes a uiffeience when funus came fiom a school
facilities bonu meant to auuiess long-teim builuing maintenance anu iepaiis
! haiuly any teacheis useu the iPaus to teach; little piofessional uevelopment
hau been pioviueu
! bioaubanu wasn't up to the task
! secuiitychilupioofing wasn't sufficient
! as iepoiteu by KPCC, }ohn Beasy may have hau impiopeily close ties with a
venuoi piioi to the uevelopment of the luciative RFPs that the venuoi
(Apple, Peaison) subsequently won
! some LA0SB staffeis uiu ieceive iPaus oi subsiuizeu tiips fiom Peaison
! the appeaiance of biu-iigging was enough to tainish }ohn Beasy's ieputation.
Shoulun't we get to the bottom of this foi once anu foi all. Aftei all, biu-
iigging in state contiacts is a seiious offense.
! NiSiS was a uisastei even fiom the testing peiiou in the spiing of 2u14
! Special eu chiluien foi whom the NiSiS softwaie was oiiginally uevelopeu
aie still no bettei seiveu than befoie as many familes aie finuing that aiues,
theiapists, shauows, anu special classes iequiieu by IEPs aie not being
iecoiueu oi tiackeu
! If stuuents aie not enteieu into the system then theie is the iisk of Title I
funuing being lost uue to unueicounteu fiee anu ieuuceu lunch eniollment
! Stuuents missing paientguaiuian contact infoimation won't have anyone
foi the school to contact in the event of an emeigency
! English language leainei stuuents lack neeueu classes
! Bigh school stuuents STILL not eniolleu in classes iequiieu foi giauuation
aie in jeopaiuy of missing timely giauuation in }une anu possibly iisking
entiy into college in the fall
! Tiansciipts anu class scheuules aie still in uisaiiay as of 0ctobei 2u, 2u14.

The NiSiS softwaie cost $1Su million yet uoesn't woik. The iPaus cost between $6u
- $7u million yet they uon't woik eithei, aie mostly useu foi testing, oi many have
not been uistiibuteu. Some iepoits to the Common Coie Technology committee of
the LA0SB School Boaiu seem to inuicate that no one knows exactly how many
iPaus theie aie oi how many uesktopslaptops theie aie.

Isn't it time we hau some soliu facts so we can fix these things.

I sit on the LCAP Paient Auvisoiy Committee foi LA0SB anu fiom ieauing the
buugets anu tiying to make ueteiminations of how uistiict money shoulu be spent, I
know how many chiluien coulu be helpeu, how many libiaiies oi othei music, ait,
oi othei piogiams coulu be kept open oi biought back foi $2uu million. This is a
laige sum of money anu the public ueseives to know how it was spent. Please
investigate anu auuit the iPau anu NiSiS ueals. A public accounting of wheie money
has gone anu what inventoiy LA0SB has is soiely neeueu in oiuei foi the uistiict to
opeiate anu auministei basic functions like class scheuuling foi all stuuents anu
ueliveiy of vital seivices to special eu anu ELL chiluien.

Sinceiely,

s

Kahlliu Al-Alim