The Bush Cash "COW"
The Bush Cash "COW"
16 Sep 2007
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) requested that the Department of Education’s Inspector General (IG) investigate why federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) funds are being spent on educational products sold by Ignite! Learning, a company founded and headed by Neil Bush, President Bush’s younger brother.
Neil Bush, who has no education background, is best known for his role in the failure of Silverado Savings and Loan, which cost taxpayers $1.6 billion. CREW is asking the IG to discover why federal money is being funneled to a company with no proven track record of effectiveness, but so happens to be run by the president’s brother.
Congress has set rigorous standards for the types of educational approaches and products on which NCLB funds can be spent, but CREW’s research shows that Ignite! products do not meet those criteria. In fact, there is no scientific data, as defined by NCLB, supporting the effectiveness of Ignite!’s products.
CREW’s three-month investigation revealed that school districts are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, including NCLB funds, on Ignite!’s Curriculum on Wheels (COW), a cart-mounted video projector and hard drive loaded with a year’s supply of Ignite!’s social studies, science, or math curricula. At a standard price of $3,800-$4,200 per unit, the COW is a very expensive device with limited use.
Adding to the initial expense, schools must pay an annual $1,000 licensing, upkeep and upgrade fee in order to retain the COW for more than one year.
In Houston, Barbara Bush donated money to a hurricane Katrina relief fund, but mandated the money be used to buy her son’s Ignite! program for schools.
Ask yourself (and your government) why schools would invest money in this product?
References:
Why Is Bush's Kid Brother Neil Getting Federal Funding?
Labels: 2007, Bush, corruption, education
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