NYT: Report Says Education Officials Violated Rules

[seafan]

Report Says Education Officials Violated Rules

By SAM DILLON
Published: September 23, 2006

Department of Education officials violated conflict of interest rules when awarding grants to states under President Bush’s billion-dollar reading initiative, and steered contracts to favored textbook publishers, the department’s inspector general said yesterday.

In a searing report that concludes the first in a series of investigations into complaints of political favoritism in the reading initiative, known as Reading First, the report said officials improperly selected the members of review panels that awarded large grants to states, often failing to detect conflicts of interest. The money was used to buy reading textbooks and curriculum for public schools nationwide.

States have received more than $4.8 billion in Reading First grants during the Bush administration, and a recent survey by an independent group, the Center on Education Policy, reported that many state officials consider the initiative to be highly effective in raising reading achievement. But the report describes a tangled process in which some states had to apply for grants as many as six times before receiving approval, with department officials scheming to stack panels with experts tied to favored publishers.

In one e-mail message cited in the report, from which the inspector general deleted some vulgarities, the director of Reading First, Chris Doherty, urged staff members to make clear to one company that it was not favored at the department.
“They are trying to crash our party and we need to beat the out of them in front of all the other would-be party crashers who are standing on the front lawn waiting to see how we welcome these dirtbags,” Mr. Doherty wrote.

Mr. Doherty recently resigned from the department to “return to the private sector,” Katherine McLane, a department spokeswoman said.

snip

From the NY Times:

The abuses described in the report occurred during 2002 and 2003, when Rod Paige was education secretary.

Well, whaddya know...

The No Child Left Behind Act signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002, established Reading First as a new, high-quality evidence-based program for the students of America.

The Reading First initiative builds on the findings of years of scientific research, which, at the request of Congress, were compiled by the National Reading Panel.

Ensuring that more children receive effective reading instruction in the early grades is of critical importance to the President and the nation.

* Reading First is a focused nationwide effort to enable all students to become successful early readers.

* Funds are dedicated to help states and local school districts eliminate the reading deficit by establishing high-quality, comprehensive reading instruction in kindergarten through grade 3.

* Building on a solid foundation of research, the program is designed to select, implement, and provide professional development for teachers using scientifically based reading programs, and to ensure accountability through ongoing, valid and reliable screening, diagnostic, and classroom-based assessment.

Florida received $52 million federal Reading First funds, which will total over $300 million in six years, to help reach Governor Bush’s goal that every child read at or above grade level by 2012.

Reading First grants assist Florida school districts and schools to implement proven methods of scientifically based reading instruction in classrooms in order to prevent reading difficulties in grades K-3. This competitive sub-grant process ensures that Florida school districts meet the eligibility criteria prescribed by the Reading First federal legislation and Florida’s state grant application.

From here.



And from this PDF:

On September 7, 2001, Florida Governor Jeb Bush issued an Executive Order, announcing the
Just Read, Florida! Initiative. The executive order directed the Department of Education to
provide information and make recommendations to dramatically improve the reading proficiency
of Florida’s students. The ultimate goal of this reading initiative is that every child in Florida will
attain grade level or higher reading skills by 2012. Just Read, Florida! is designed to guide
changes at every level of education that has an impact on reading outcomes in Florida schools. It also provides a call for parent, business, and community involvement.

snip

From February 16, 2001:

George W. Bush may have left Austin amid much fanfare, but the president's younger brother quietly is heading a local startup that's raising at least $10 million in second-round funding.

Neil Bush's Ignite! Inc., which develops educational software, is hoping to raise a second round in the near future, says Pamela Richardson, chief operating and strategic officer for Ignite! The company raised more than $5 million in first-round funding last year, she says.

snip

Richardson declined to name previous private investors, but documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate the company raised $7.1 million from 53 investors and is seeking $10 million in additional funding, according to online newsletter Private Equity Week, which covers private equity filings with SEC.

Ignite!, whose offices are at 11044 Research Blvd. in Northwest Austin, is developing multimedia software that lets students in kindergarten through 12th grade learn standardized curricula based on individual learning methods.

snip

Neil Bush perhaps is best known for his membership on the board of directors of the failed Denver-based Silverado Savings & Loan Association. Bush was a director of the S&L when it collapsed in 1988. The S&L's failure cost taxpayers $1.3 billion, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

And from April 12, 2002:

Who is investing in little Neil's new company? Just take a look.

One investor is Winston Wong, a second-generation Taiwanese semiconductor tycoon who recently founded Shanghai Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation with the son of Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Last December Neil Bush visited Beijing to share dinner with Jiang Zemin and meet with political heavyweights like Wu Jichuan, China's minister of the information industry.

According to the New York Times, Bush negotiated with the education minister of the United Arab Emirates to introduce Ignite's software to the emirate's schools.

Hamza El Khouli, an associate of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and chairman of First Arabian Development and Investment Company, not only invested with Ignite, he also hosted Bush, his family and Ingite's CEO Kenneth Leonard on the Red Sea last March.

Of course, some of Ignite's investors are closer to home. There's Tim Bridgewater, a top Bush fundraiser, who co-founded Interlink Management with Neil Bush in 1994. Les and Anne Csorba are also Bush contributors and worked in the first Bush White House in the White House Personnel Office and the Office of Personnel Management, respectively. And former President Bush and Barbara Bush have even chipped in, too.

Why would so many foreign oil and computer industry magnates be investing their money in Bush's education software start-up? Good question. "This is a fairly common practice," says Bill Allison of the nonpartisan watchdog group the Center for Public Integrity. "It's one way for special interests to sidle up to the president by giving business to his family members. It's a way to get around the campaign finance laws."

Isn't it interesting to follow all of these $$$ ties in this family? Why, it just pads their pockets to the point of bursting, it does.