LAUSD May Need To Spend Millions On Keyboards To Go Along With Students' iPads
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles Unified School District may need to spend millions on wireless keyboards to go along with students' pricey iPads.
After much controversy, the district is officially planning to spend $500 million for iPads for every one of its 650,000 students and another $500 million for Wi-Fi.
"The district is going to come in with 500 iPads for all of our kids," said John Lawler, the principal at ArTES High School. "Teachers are no longer the providers of information. They are the coaches on the side who really help kids find the right kind of information, who set the context for what kind of learning needs to happen."
District officials said they might also have to purchase $28 million worth of keyboards to be used with iPads. They're needed so students can use them to take standardized tests.
"When you just have the iPad, you know you have to constantly look down to see if you're hitting the correct keys. If you make a mistake, you have to go back and delete it. But with keyboards, I think most of the kids have experience," said Junior Zeltzin Angon.
The district, however, didn't budget for the keyboards.
"Ultimately, it needs to be put in the budget. So, I think it was not in the budget before…that is the sense I've received… but I think it is going to be in the budget going forward," said school board member Monica Ratliff.
L.A. Unified said money for the keyboards will come from the same bond that paid for the iPads.
