LAUSD parent here. At our school, we have been successfully using iPads for instruction in certain grades. MacBooks and Airs in higher grades. The software used

LAUSD parent here. At our school, we have been successfully using iPads for instruction in certain grades. MacBooks and Airs in higher grades. The software used is pretty much the stock iPad selection, reinforced with some pedagogical offerings through web SaaS products. In Kindergarten, my daughter made a Ken Burns-style presentation using iMovie, researched building a parachute with a gondola to compete in the egg drop competition (her and her partner's egg broke), and has been drilled in numerous ways on spelling, counting, addition and subtraction. I am unsure how tech is applied in other grades, but I have seen the movie making and egg drop competition themes at the other grade levels, so I assume there is some iterative rigor year over year. By 4th grade, I expect my daughter to be participating in curriculum sourced from the Hour of Code program. In my view, Director Deasy's persecution is politically-motivated. The choice to go Apple was the result of successes in various Magnet and Lab Schools, conducted prior to the service agreement with Apple. Multiple vendors were evaluated during the Magnet / Lab development process. There was no opportunity in the process to put it out for three bids during the actual procurement process, because the other vendors were eliminated prior to procurement. Our technology program is funded by our PTO, which is a becoming a common trend in many public schools. It's much easier for our PTO to raise $80K/yr for tech (we raise more than that, to fund other programs) than it is for LAUSD to indemnify the purchase or lease of tech on a district-wide basis. We will likely continue to choose Apple products, with the primary motivation for that decision coming from the instructors, and secondarily, the build quality being able to stand up to student use at school and home.