President David Banks (left) and Mayor Eric Adams speak in Manhattan on February 12, 2024 (Theodore Parisienne of the New York Daily News)
IBM disputed the Adams administration's responsibility for the technology failure on a remote snowy day last month, testifying that the city purchased a system that did not have enough capacity for the nation's largest school district.
After students and teachers were locked out of virtual classrooms on the morning of Feb. 13, Mayor Adams and Schools Superintendent David Banks argued that the tech giant should have been prepared after the city warned them the day before.
“We knew we were doing everything we could to make sure this technology worked as per contract, so it was understandably frustrating to hear it framed as an issue with IBM's technology,” said the senior. said Vanessa Hunt of the state. IBM's New York executive told an oversight hearing Wednesday at City Hall.
Public schools announced a day earlier that classes would be moved online as the city braced for expected heavy snowfall. This will be the first school-wide test of remote learning since the pandemic. Despite advance notice, the public school's user login authenticator contracted through IBM buckled when hundreds of thousands of users tried to log on at once.
The Prime Minister summed up the fiasco, explaining that IBM was “not ready for prime time”. Although the majority of students were eventually able to get online, many families gave up and went outside to enjoy the snow, but missed out on a day of learning.
Hunt explained that the city and IBM had been working on a deal before the pandemic expanded distance learning. He said IBM has repeatedly increased the capacity of its systems “well above” contract levels at no additional cost. On a snowy day, the platform was able to handle more than five times what the city was paying for it.
“On February 13th, the Department of Education provided closet doors when we needed barn doors,” Hunt said. “Everyone tried to go through that door at the same time.”
Educators promised they were ready for remote. In press conferences and closed-door meetings with elected officials, Banks and his representatives touted the “simulation” the school participated in to pilot the transition to online before winter break.
But the city's public schools did not conduct stress tests in advance, education officials acknowledged Wednesday. The distance learning practice took place from November to December over two weeks, with the exact dates determined by dozens of superintendents. They are not going to stress test the system anymore.
“It's a lot of work and a big ask to get all the families and teachers to take on that, so we're going to be thinking about it,” said Emma Vadehera, the public schools' chief operating officer. , explained stress. -Test as something that is not an “industry standard”.
Education officials are considering changes to the contract, including a clause that would automatically adjust system capacity to match user size. In the meantime, the city may stagger start times for remote areas to avoid a repeat of last month's technical failure. Early estimates suggested it could take him more than an hour to get everyone online, with students taking turns logging in by grade level.
Scott Strickland, who until last week served as acting chief information officer for public schools, said: “We know how frustrating it has been for many students and families who have experienced delays logging into class.” . “We apologize for not being able to prevent this from happening.”
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