Key Initiative Of 'No Child' Under Federal Investigation

[lily]

Pretty low! (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002284.html?referrer=email)

Key Initiative Of 'No Child' Under Federal Investigation
Officials Profited From Reading First Program

By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 21, 2007; Page A01

The Justice Department is conducting a probe of a $6 billion reading
initiative at the center of President Bush's No Child Left Behind law,
another blow to a program besieged by allegations of financial conflicts of
interest and cronyism, people familiar with the matter said yesterday.

The disclosure came as a congressional hearing revealed how people
implementing the $1 billion-a-year Reading First program made at least $1
million off textbooks and tests toward which the federal government steered
states.


"That sounds like a criminal enterprise to me," said Rep. George Miller
(D-Calif.), chairman of the House education committee, which held a
five-hour investigative hearing. "You don't get to override the law," he
angrily told a panel of Reading First officials. "But the fact of the matter
is that you did."

The Education Department's inspector general, John P. Higgins Jr., said he
has made several referrals to the Justice Department about the five-year-old
program, which provides grants to improve reading for children in
kindergarten through third grade.

Higgins declined to offer more specifics, but Christopher J. Doherty, former
director of Reading First, said in an interview that he was questioned by
Justice officials in November. The civil division of the U.S. attorney's
office for the District, which can bring criminal charges, is reviewing the
matter.

Doherty, one of the two Education Department employees who oversaw the
initiative, acknowledged yesterday that his wife had worked for a decade as
a paid consultant for a reading program, Direct Instruction, that
investigators said he improperly tried to force schools to use. He
repeatedly failed to disclose the conflict on financial disclosure forms.

[Buck Laser]

And so the Bush doctrine of privatization continues.
Is anyone surprised?

[NortheastCynic]

Uh, Buck, this couldn't be any further from privatization...In fact this may be the first time I've ever heard anyone refer to any part of NCLB called such a thing. This is what happens when you give gov't billions of dollars in direct contradiction of the Constitution and then tell them to run our education system. This is nationalization in action, not privatization. If privatization were taking place, the government wouldn't be GIVING billions of dollars to anyone.

-NC

[Caravaggio]

And so the Bush doctrine of privatization continues.
Is anyone surprised?



Damn...another evil plot by Bush and that evil Karl Rove uncovered...Thank God for the Washington Post.


HAAAAAA....Haaaaaa...

[Buck Laser]

Uh, Buck, this couldn't be any further from privatization...In fact this may be the first time I've ever heard anyone refer to any part of NCLB called such a thing. This is what happens when you give gov't billions of dollars in direct contradiction of the Constitution and then tell them to run our education system. This is nationalization in action, not privatization. If privatization were taking place, the government wouldn't be GIVING billions of dollars to anyone.

-NC

Sorry, NEC, but giving money to Blackwater is how DOD privatizes. And giving money to private contractors is how DOE privatizes. And Dubya has been trying to privatize Social Security--think what a f----d up mess THAT will be. If libertarians have been using the term "privatization," then they clearly don't mean the same thing as the doofii in this administration do.

I have no doubt that NCLB was from the beginning premised on finding ways to funnel monies to Bush buddies. NCLB uses a model based, I think, on the latest commerce ideas--looking for short-term with gains with practically no interest in long-term results, I'd say that kind of thinking has characterized this administration from the beginning of the neo-con philosophy. Libertarians, conservatives, progressives and socialists have all been hornswoggled.

[NortheastCynic]

Sorry, NEC, but giving money to Blackwater is how DOD privatizes. And giving money to private contractors is how DOE privatizes. And Dubya has been trying to privatize Social Security--think what a f----d up mess THAT will be. If libertarians have been using the term "privatization," then they clearly don't mean the same thing as the doofii in this administration do.Buck, giving a contract to a a political crony does not equal privatization, it equals corruption. If there was true privatization, something this administration doesn't subscribe to, the Dept. of Education would not exist and neither would No Child Left Behind. This corruption is a byproduct of gov't involvement in the education system and a generally corrupt administration.
I have no doubt that NCLB was from the beginning premised on finding ways to funnel monies to Bush buddies. NCLB uses a model based, I think, on the latest commerce ideas--looking for short-term with gains with practically no interest in long-term results, I'd say that kind of thinking has characterized this administration from the beginning of the neo-con philosophy. Libertarians, conservatives, progressives and socialists have all been hornswoggled. I don't disagree with you. My point is that creating a government entity designed to create uniform education standards and then subsequently using it to enrich cronies is not a sign of privatization's failure...Not at all.

-NC

[Caravaggio]

I have no doubt that NCLB was from the beginning premised on finding ways to funnel monies to Bush buddies. NCLB uses a model based,

Wow...you must also believe in "Big Foot" and "Black Helicopters"...

[Drocket]

Privatization refers to subcontracting government functions out to private companies, supposedly because it's 'more efficient'. I generally find the idea that private enterprise is more efficient rather questionable - even in the best case scenario, any increase in efficiency tends to be eaten up by the company's desire for profit - but it is, in and of itself, not necessarily a bad thing. As was said, though, the Bush administration don't subscribe to privatization - they subscribe to cronyism. Any time Bush starts talking about privatizing something, you can pretty much bet money that one of his pals is going to be getting rich off of it.

[Labrocca]

This story really has nothing to do with Bush or his administration. It's about a few people that have used their influence to make money. That's American politics at this point.

[lily]

Labrocca I don't know what you mean. You're right the "story" has nothing to do with the Bush administration, it has to do with an investigation of funds and the debate is about privitization.

[wonder cow]

The disclosure came as a congressional hearing revealed how people
implementing the $1 billion-a-year Reading First program made at least $1
million off textbooks and tests toward which the federal government steered
states.

Republicans are not for a lot of centralized oversight and big government bureaucratic nonsense. It always opens up room for corruption and waste. As we are all aware, Republicans prefer decentralized control, with people at the state and local levels making decisions for themselves. Republicans would never initiate a program designed to blackmail and coerce local officials across the country into accepting their view of what public education should be like. No they would never do anything like that.

Although they would stab at the heart of public education in order to push school vouchers and privatization. I would never put that past them. So I'll keep my eyes open and wait.

NCLB 4 ever.