Race To the Top Money Runs Out – Venders Sell Technology

Education vendors saw big dollar signs when the White House decided to throw billions of dollars into the world of K-12 education, but seems now they want OUT.

Back in 2013-14, Guilford County Schools had a “melt-down” fiasco with tables leased from the education company, Amplify. The school system and Amplify were in months of negotiations and the company seems to be working with the system. However, now Amplify, which is owned by News Corporation, is being sold. According to the New York Times:

News Corporation, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, said on Wednesday that it would take a $371 million write-down on the education division and would move to wind down the production of tablets for schoolchildren, a key part of the unit’s offering.

Together, the moves highlight the difficulty that has confronted News Corporation and others looking to move teaching into the digital age, relying on the Internet and tablets to update traditional curriculums.

In 2012, the NC Department of Public Instruction awarded a contract to Pearson for their PowerSchool product. This encompasses an instructional improvement system and student information system, which is used by each and every school in the state. The rollout was also a fiasco with all kinds of issues.  The situation was so bad the State Board tried to get money back. According to the Charlotte Observer back in 2014:

State education officials are trying to get money back from the company whose computer system has created problems such as flawed student transcripts across the state.

North Carolina is paying $7.1 million a year to Pearson Inc. for use of the PowerSchool student information system that was implemented statewide this school year.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reported this week that ongoing problems include the inability to check athletic eligibility, produce accurate student transcripts, generate dropout reports and create monthly enrollment reports.

School districts such as Wake County provided high school seniors with letters explaining to colleges and universities that school systems couldn’t provide an updated transcript with grade point average and class rank because of PowerSchool issues.

In June 2015, Pearson sold this product to Vista Equity Partners.

Maybe with the end of the “Race to the Top” stimulus dollars we will see fewer massive fiascos and a slower, more measured roll out of education technology products.