Bush reading program gets failing grade (Ignored Law & Ethical Stds)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4207953.html

A scorching internal review of the Bush administration's billion-dollar-a-year reading program says the Education Department ignored the law and ethical standards to steer money how it wanted.

The government audit is unsparing in its view that the Reading First program has been beset by conflicts of interest and willful mismanagement. It suggests the department broke the law by trying to dictate which curriculum schools must use.

It also depicts a program in which review panels were stacked with people who shared the director's views, and in which only favored publishers of reading curricula could get money.

In one e-mail, the director told a staff member to come down hard on a company he didn't support, according to the report released Friday by the department's inspector general.

"They are trying to crash our party and we need to beat the (expletive deleted) 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," the program director wrote, the report says.

[intaglio]

1. But this reading program enabled the Pres

to read 3 Shakespeares and Came-mouse

[jwirr]

2. Want to bet that Scholastic and Disney got some of that money?

[rumpel]

4. airtime for the infamous docu-drama?

:shrug:

anything is possible with these people - and I would not be surprised - category: history education perhaps

[cyberpj]

8. Not to mention Bush son, Neil, and his program. nt

[rodeodance]

10. i wonder if he was involved

[orpupilofnature57]

3. The apples don't fall far from the Shrub ,appeasement and sycophancy

have replaced imagination and confidence.

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. Hafta wunder why da US Admin is losing respect at home and abroad - right?

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From the posted article:

"About 1,500 school districts have received $4.8 billion in Reading First grants.

The audit found the department:

_Botched the way it picked a panel to review grant applications, raising questions over whether grants were approved as the law requires.

_Screened grant reviewers for conflicts of interest, but then failed to identify six who had a clear conflict based on their industry connections.

_Did not let states see the comments of experts who reviewed their applications.
___________________________________________________

I'm SO surprised

NOT!

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. Bush reading program blasted in internal audit

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-09-23T032940Z_01_N22257320_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-EDUCATION.xml

Bush reading program blasted in internal audit

Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:29 PM ET

By Joanne Morrison

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A $1 billion reading program that is a key part of the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education law was mismanaged and rife with conflicts of interest, according to an internal audit released on Friday.

...

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Glad to see this

The feds have shoved this program down our throats. It has just reeked of patronage from the get-go.

[rodeodance]

9. the WH Culture of Coruption hard at work.

[cyberpj]

11. Anyone want to be that Neil Bush's program was involved in this?nt