Steve Schafersman dutifully follows events at the Texas Education Agency, particularly with regard to textbook selection, and particularly with regard to biology textbooks. As head and chief instigator and chief bottle washer for the Texas Citizens for Science, he still gets little notoriety for the good work he does — all volunteer.
Shafersman says important stuff to know. So, when he sends along an editorial from the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram pointing out ethical and legal lapses at the agency which appear to be the work of the chief lawyer of the agency, one should read it. That lawyer, by the way, is probably in line to be the next head of the agency.
TEA has suffered from politicized leadership the last few years. Since Mike Moses left the agency, Texas education has drifted, and lack of leadership from TEA has not helped. Controversies over silly things are almost invited; serious issues, like cheating on the state’s graduation test, go unstudied and unremedied. I take the liberty of publishing the full editorial, below the fold — please read it, especially if you’re in Texas. Since Texas influences education so heavily, especially in textbook selection, everybody who has a kid in U.S. schools, who did have a kid in U.S. schools, who was educated in U.S. schools, or lives in a state that has schools, has a dog in this fight.
Wanted: leadership
Star-Telegram
The Texas Education Agency needs a good, strong, well-respected leader. That’s a problem right now.
Gov. Rick Perry has booted the agency’s top boss, Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley. And now Chief Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott, the governor’s long-time confidant and adviser on education issues and the real power behind the throne at TEA, has been accused by the agency’s inspector general of steering lucrative, no-bid contracts to his friends and an inner circle of ex-TEA employees.
None of this bodes well for the agency. It’s Perry’s responsibility to right the ship and see that it is steered straight.
Scott says there’s no truth to the allegations in the inspector general’s report, which was released Wednesday. By most accounts, he was all set to take over TEA, temporarily if not permanently. Perry’s office says he has full confidence in Scott, who is still running the agency — for now.
The inspector general’s report has been sent to the state auditor for further study. A TEA spokeswoman says Scott will release a written response soon.
Neeley initiated the inspector general’s probe of contract irregularities in February when she received a complaint from a TEA staffer. The complainant later told the IG that a division of Scott’s office “regularly and systematically manipulated the contract and grant processes,” the report says. In further interviews with other employees, “TEA staff expressed concerns with regard to a number of practices and transactions.”
The notion that TEA’s staff distrusts Scott could prove just as damaging for him as the report’s specific allegations of impropriety.
The report cites several contracts that were awarded without competitive bidding:
In December, the Region 12 Education Service Center in Waco awarded a $100,000 contract to a woman who, according to the report, Scott acknowledges is his friend. She told the inspector general that she negotiated the terms of that contract directly with Scott. He denies that, but he recommended her for the contract, the report says.
The center’s director says he was called by a consultant “who he had reason to believe spoke authoritatively for TEA” and was “instructed” to award the contract to the woman, the report says. The woman is the consultant’s former wife. She later received a follow-up contract, also worth $100,000, which she also says she negotiated with Scott. He denies that.
A contract from the Region 13 Education Service Center in Austin, again on the recommendation of the same consultant, “who is closely identified with TEA senior staff,” went to the same woman and two other people, one of whom was Scott’s former executive assistant.
Another $100,000 contract went to another former TEA employee, who started work on it the month after he retired from the agency. State law and TEA operating procedures “dictate that previous state employees are not allowed to return to work for one year after retiring or separating from state employment,” the report says.
A contract worth $189,000 over two years went to a former TEA speechwriter. The award was supervised through a division of Scott’s office.
TEA staffers also complained of missteps in competitive bidding for some contracts, including information about bids being leaked to people who had not signed documents pledging to keep those details confidential.
Scott has to show that he did nothing wrong. That’s not fair, but it’s the way things work. He has to restore faith in his leadership or he has to be replaced.
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