Los Angeles oversight panel blocks funding for computer tablets

From The Los Angeles Daily News: The panel that oversees spending of Los Angeles Unified's bond revenue has refused Superintendent John Deasy's request for nearly $17.5 million to jump-start the purchase of computer tablets for every student. The Bond Oversight Committee voted 7-3 for the plan, but that was one vote short of the eight needed for passage. Deasy wanted to borrow the revenue from voter-approved funds that had been earmarked for construction of a preschool. The $17.5 million would have funded the first phase of a long-range technology program. Ultimately, Deasy wants to buy tablets for all 650,000 district students, a project estimated to cost upwards of $400 million.