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At a recent LAUSD District 3 school board debate, teachers dressed as FBI agents in protest of board member Tamar Galatzan's support of the iPad program.; Credit: Annie Gilbertson/KPCC

As the city's March 3 primary election draws near, Los Angeles Unified school board candidates are blasting incumbents for the controversial iPad program.

Opponents sharply criticized the $1.3 billion bond-funded program at a debate Tuesday in West San Fernando Valley, where District 3 school board member Tamar Galatzan was elected in 2007.

"Galatzan said the district is going in the right direction," declared candidate Carl Petersen, a parent and businessman. "I don’t know how anyone can look at the events of the past year and come to that conclusion."

RELATED: LAUSD District 5 school board candidates face off in debate

The program attracted national attention last December when the FBI raided district offices and carted off 20 boxes of bids, evaluations and correspondences with executives at Apple and its subcontractor Pearson, the manufacturer of the learning software loaded on to each device. The investigation is ongoing.

At the debate, teachers dressed in dark windbreakers with FBI plastered on the back in protest to Galatzan's support of the program. (They have not held similar demonstrations at election events in East Los Angeles' District 5, where Bennett Kayser, a teacher union ally, is running for re-election.)

Tom Richards, a Granada Hills parent, said he considers the iPad program a central issue as he weighs candidates.

"I think it's absolutely ridiculous," Richards said. "I don't believe that's a good way to spend the money that they have. Looking at some really fundamental needs — we don't have a librarian, but we want to give iPads?" 

Galatzan was an early advocate for more technology in the classroom; it was her goal even before the iPad was on the market.

"There is a whole world out there that can be accessed through technology, and we need to take advantage of that," Galatzan told KPCC.

Her advocacy of technology hasn't always been controversial. Galatzan points to her 2010 initiative to fund school computer labs with a settlement from Microsoft.

The school board's support of the iPad program varied the first year, but waned in August after KPCC published a series of emails showing district administrators had close ties with Pearson, calling into question whether the bidding process was fair. Problems with the rollout of the devices and the effectiveness of the software they contained also eroded support for the program.

Still, school board members unanimously approved more iPad purchases after the FBI investigation came to light. Superintendent Ramon Cortines said the tablets were necessary for new digital state tests scheduled this spring and offered to purchase them under a different contract with Apple to avoid complications involving the federal probe.

If the candidates' positions are a measure of support for the program, it's unpopular at best.  All of Galatzan's opponents are against it. 

When asked in a KPCC election survey conducted if he supported the iPad program, Scott Schmerelson, a retired administrator and District 3 contender, responded: "Not when you are paying for them from LAUSD Bond Money! The taxpayers generously supported the bond issue with the belief that the money would be used to repair and modernize our schools." 

Candidate Ankur Patel said in his answer to the survey, "I oppose the LAUSD’s iPad program. Throughout the program, important questions were not asked enough, and when they were, they were not answered properly."

Filiberto Gonzalez, another Galatzan challenger, said of the iPad project: "It was a mistake and ill-conceived from the very beginning. As was noted in the report by the U.S. Department of Education last month, the Common Core Technology Project (iPad program) lacked 'established metrics of success' and 'was difficult to show the impact of the investment.'

Elizabeth Badger Bartels is also running for the District 3 seat, but did not respond to the survey by deadline.

For more information on the school board candidates' positions and their backgrounds, read KPCC's 2015 Los Angeles primary election guide.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

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Photographs of John Watson (left) and Rosalie Rayner (right) via Ben Harris. The May 2020 issue of History of Psychology is now online. The issue includes a special section on “Who Was Little Albert? The Historical Controversy.” Full details follow below. Special Section: Who Was Little Albert? The Historical Controversy“Journals, referees, and gatekeepers in the … Continue reading May HoP, including a Special Section: Who Was Little Albert? The Historical Controversy →

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ISLAMABAD: Rector International Islamic University Islamabad Dr Masoom Yasinzai is in the middle of a controversy for allegedly receiving dual salary without the notice and prior approval of Board of Governors , Board of Trustees ."I received an honoraria for giving consultancy to a Saudi...

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Actress Sobhita Dhulipala, who has been accused of making false claims of 'self-timing' a magazine photoshoot, has issued a statement in self-defence.

A few days ago, Sobhita had posted a few of her pictures claiming she had clicked the images with a self-timer. However, the authenticity of her claim came under scrutiny after snapshots, showing Sobhita being clicked on her terrace by a man, went viral on social media. Seeing the viral images, many followers started questioning her and accused her of lying.

 

 

 

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A post shared by Sobhita Dhulipala (@sobhitad) onApr 24, 2020 at 9:42am PDT

Sobhita then penned a lengthy note, explaining that the man had just offered to help. "Quite a few people have written to me about the image I last posted. It is upsetting and I am little taken aback by how urgently many have jumped to unkind conclusions, this is also a moment for me to learn something deeper," she wrote.

She added: "I stand by the flow of events I'm sharing with complete transparency:

1. I style myself, go to the terrace with a coffee mug and a couple of tools to prop up my phone to take pictures.

2. There are people on the terrace and one kind gentleman upon learning that I'm trying to shoot my pictures, offers help.

3. After he graciously shoots a few pictures in the frame I wanted, I thank him and we depart.

Neither was the picture shot by him used by Cosmopolitan (It doesn't belong with the magazine's mandate) nor am I anything but proud of this wonderful collaboration with the magazine.

I only posted it along with the official ones because I like it. I recognise that I should have altered the caption text to mention that the second image was not part of the magazine shoot. I wish I had a more exciting, dramatic story but alas, truth often wears plain robes! Stay home and stay safe," concluded the model-turned-actress, best known for her roles in the web shows "Made In Heaven" and "Bard Of Blood".

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The 'Bois Locker Room' controversy has taken the country by storm. Leaked screenshots of a private Instagram chat group comprising teenage school students from Delhi has shocked people to the core. Many of the boys in the group were allegedly seen sharing photos of underage girls, objectifying them, and planning gang rapes.

Bollywood celebs like Richa Chadha, Swara Bhasker and Chandan Roy Sanyal have spoken out about the issue. Here's what Richa tweeted:

This a multi-faceted problem. Because everyone is still squeamish about sex education in our populous/moralistic country, teenagers are confusing porn for sex education! And now data is free. How dangerous! This will explode in our faces in the next five years sadly,I reckon. https://t.co/mPVaXPOe6d

— TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) May 5, 2020

Swara Bhasker, too, spoke about the toxic masculinity that still runs rampant in the country. She tweeted:

#boyslockerroom a telling tale of how toxic masculinity starts young! Underage boys gleefully planning how to rape & gangrape minor girls. Parents & teachers must address this with those Kids.. Not enough to ‘hang rapists’ .. we must attack the mentality that creates rapists! https://t.co/Jw4cFQ9gXM

— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) May 5, 2020

Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal wrote, "15-year-old School Boys from distinguished Delhi schools talk about raping the girls in their own class. Shocked to the core!!"

Amyra Dastur emphasised that a line had been crossed. She tweeted:

These are people’s daughters & sisters. I understand being young & trying to act cool but there’s a line which has been crossed. girls are afraid & traumatised. threatening rape is a crime & shud b treated as such no matter how old the boys are! #EnoughIsEnough #boislockerroom https://t.co/dmbdwDSnOG

— Amyra Dastur (@AmyraDastur93) May 5, 2020

Dastur wrote in another tweet, "The boys don't need sex education. They need to be educated about equality, consent & DECENCY! Education about what RAPE actually is & a new perspective on girls & women! This isn't about Sex Ed, it's about a superiority & misogynistic chain of thought that needs to be broken."

Sonam Kapoor shared on her Insta story a post by model and British actress Jameela Jamil.

According to a report in IANS, the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police has detained a 15-year-old student of a prominent school in South Delhi in connection with the Instagram chat group. Twenty two other boys have also have been identified.

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Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

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