When corporate interests collide with public schools. Neil and Babs Bush and the software program..

[madfloridian]

the software that has been the subject of investigations. We posted about it here a lot a couple of years ago. But this is good time to remember that when corporate and political interests hold sway and affect public schools, there is no good outcome.

Neil Bush's software program was unabashedly pushed into public schools in several states. I know it was sort of forced on some counties in Florida by political means. I don't know if the software called Ignite is good or not, that is not the point of this post. Here is the website of Neil's company.

First off the financing is questionable, and it may have given foreign voices a chance to have a voice in our public schools.

Finances
To fund Ignite!, Neil Bush and others raised $23 million from U.S. investors, including his parents, Barbara Bush and George H.W. Bush, as well as businessmen from Taiwan, Japan, Kuwait, the British Virgin Islands and the United Arab Emirates, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As of 2006, at least $2 million had come from Taiwanese interests that had given Neil Bush a job consulting for a semiconductor manufacturer, and at least $3 million came from Saudi interests. A foundation linked to Reverend Sun Myung Moon donated $1 million for a research project by the company in Washington, D.C.-area schools.

In 2002, Ignite! entered into a partnership with a Mexican company, Grupo Carso Telecom to outsource many software and product development functions. Regarding the deal, Ignite! President (then CFO) Ken Leonard stated, "That's turned out to be great." Ignite! laid off 42% of its in-house workforce (21 individuals) in preparation for the partnership. Leonard said that outsourcing production will give it the resources to develop additional course software more quickly, and that the company wants to develop an entire middle school curriculum featuring the basics of language arts, math and science.

Russian billionaire expatriate Boris Berezovsky has been an investor in Bush's Ignite! program since at least 2003.(citation needed)

In December 2003, a Washington Post Style article said that Ignite! was paying Neil Bush a salary of $180,000 per year.

Wiki on Ignite

Imagine a Sun Myung Moon foundation researching schools in the DC area. That seems so odd.

There was some uproar in 2006 about the fact that funds for Katrina victims had been earmarked to pay for Neil Bush's program. With the aid of Barbara Bush.

From the Houston Chronicle in 2006

Katrina funds earmarked to pay for Neil Bush's software program

Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil. Since then, the Ignite Learning program has been given to eight area schools that took in substantial numbers of Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

"Mrs. Bush wanted to do something specifically for education and specifically for the thousands of students flooding into the Houston schools," said Jean Becker, former President Bush's chief of staff. "She knew that HISD was using this software program, and she's very excited about this program, so she wanted to make it possible for them to expand the use of this program."

Also donations were made to the Houston area schools.

Barbara and Neil Bush presented the donated programs to Houston-area schools this winter. Districts that received the free curriculum include Houston, Alvin, Katy, Pearland and Spring and the New Orleans West charter school.

There are 40 Ignite programs being used in the Houston area, and 15 in the Houston school district, said Ken Leonard, president of Ignite. Information about the effectiveness of the program, through district-generated reports, was not readily available Wednesday, according to an HISD spokeswoman.

Two years ago, the school district raised eyebrows when it expanded the program by relying heavily on private donations. In February 2004, the Houston school board unanimously agreed to accept $115,000 in charitable donations from businesses and individuals who insisted the money be spent on Ignite. The money covered half the bill for the software, which cost $10,000 per school.

Looks like the Bush family profited from the NCLB program.

From the Institute for Language and Education policy.

Bush Family Profits from 'No Child' Act

Originally from the LA Times.

company headed by President Bush's brother and partly owned by his parents is benefiting from Republican connections and federal dollars targeted for economically disadvantaged students under the No Child Left Behind Act. With investments from his parents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, and other backers, Neil Bush's company, Ignite! Learning, has placed its products in 40 U.S. school districts and now plans to market internationally.

At least 13 U.S. school districts have used federal funds available through the president's signature education reform, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to buy Ignite's portable learning centers at $3,800 apiece.

..."Most of Ignite's business has been obtained through sole-source contracts without competitive bidding. Neil Bush has been directly involved in marketing the product. In addition to federal or state funds, foundations and corporations have helped buy Ignite products. The Washington Times Foundation, backed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, head of the South Korea-based Unification Church, has peppered classrooms throughout Virginia with Ignite's COWs under a $1-million grant. Oil companies and Middle East interests with long political ties to the Bush family have made similar bequests. Aramco Services Co., an arm of the Saudi-owned oil company, has donated COWs to schools, as have Apache Corp., BP and Shell Oil Co.

Neil Bush said he is a businessman who does not attempt to exert political influence, and he called The Times' inquiries about his venture — made just before the election — "entirely political."

There is an excellent article at Truthout from 2007 about an investigation of this Neil Bush involvement by the Inspector General of the Department of Education.

Inquiry Set Into Purchases From Bush Brother's Firm

Washington - The inspector general of the Department of Education has said he will examine whether federal money was inappropriately used by three states to buy educational products from a company owned by Neil Bush, the president's brother.

John P. Higgins Jr., the inspector general, said he would review the matter after a group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, detailed at least $1 million in spending from the No Child Left Behind program by school districts in Texas, Florida and Nevada to buy products made by Mr. Bush's company, Ignite Learning of Austin, Tex. Mr. Higgins stated his plans in a letter to the group sent last week.

Members of the group and other critics in Texas contend that school districts are buying Ignite's signature product, the Curriculum on Wheels, because of political considerations. The product, they said, does not meet standards for financing under the No Child Left Behind Act, which allocates federal money to help students raise their achievement levels, particularly in elementary school reading.

When anyone, no matter who they may be, begin to profit from public schools...then there are going to be problems.

As the continued involvement of private companies continues under the philosophies of Education Secretary, Arne Duncan...we need to be on guard.

The forces for privatization are strong. Greed is the motivator. The corporations want more control and profit from education and health care.

[madfloridian]

1. More about Neil and Ignite from the WP in 2003

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35297-2003Dec27

" However, Ignite! has been attacked by other educators for dumbing down history. Among its controversial aspects is a lesson that depicts the Seminole Wars in a cartoon football game -- "the Jacksons vs. the Seminoles" -- the animated Indians smashing helmets with animated white settlers. The Constitutional Convention is taught in a rap song:

It was 55 delegates from 12 states

Took one hot Philadelphia summer to create

A perfect document for their imperfect times

Franklin, Madison, Washington -- a lot of the cats

Who used to be in the Continental Congress way back.

Ignite! is working well, Bush wrote in an e-mail: "Teachers and students have given anecdotal feedback that confirms the powerful impact our program is having on student achievement, student focus and attitudes, and teacher success in reaching all of their students."

But at Whitney reviews were less laudatory. "The kids felt pretty strongly that what this was about was lowering the bar," says Humes. Humes wasn't impressed, either. "There was a lot of rhyming and games," he says. "It reminded me of what my son uses -- but he's in kindergarten."

When Bush spoke at Whitney, several students began arguing with him.

"He was very surprised," Humes recalls. "You had to see the look on his face when one young woman got up and said she liked calculus. He said it was useless. This is the branch of mathematics that makes space travel possible, and he said it was useless."

[Old Time Pagan]

16. Makes space travel possible? It does a bit more than that

More proof that the final objective of the "elite's" education program is to create a vast pool of semi-educated workers that can only function at the most menial of tasks and thus be kept in abject poverty and perpetuate that cycle for generations to come.

Let's see what applications calculus is actually used in, from the Wikipedia:

"Calculus is used in every branch of the physical sciences, in computer science, statistics, engineering, economics, business, medicine, demography, and in other fields wherever a problem can be mathematically modeled and an optimal solution is desired.

Physics makes particular use of calculus; all concepts in classical mechanics are interrelated through calculus. The mass of an object of known density, the moment of inertia of objects, as well as the total energy of an object within a conservative field can be found by the use of calculus. In the subfields of electricity and magnetism calculus can be used to find the total flux of electromagnetic fields. A more historical example of the use of calculus in physics is Newton's second law of motion, it expressly uses the term "rate of change" which refers to the derivative: The rate of change of momentum of a body is equal to the resultant force acting on the body and is in the same direction. Even the common expression of Newton's second law as Force = Mass × Acceleration involves differential calculus because acceleration can be expressed as the derivative of velocity. Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism and Einstein's theory of general relativity are also expressed in the language of differential calculus. Chemistry also uses calculus in determining reaction rates and radioactive decay.

Calculus can be used in conjunction with other mathematical disciplines. For example, it can be used with linear algebra to find the "best fit" linear approximation for a set of points in a domain.

Green's Theorem, which gives the relationship between a line integral around a simple closed curve C and a double integral over the plane region D bounded by C, is applied in an instrument known as a planimeter which is used to calculate the area of a flat surface on a drawing. For example, it can be used to calculate the amount of area taken up by an irregularly shaped flower bed or swimming pool when designing the layout of a piece of property.

In the realm of medicine, calculus can be used to find the optimal branching angle of a blood vessel so as to maximize flow.

In analytic geometry, the study of graphs of functions, calculus is used to find high points and low points (maxima and minima), slope, concavity and inflection points.

In economics, calculus allows for the determination of maximal profit by providing a way to easily calculate both marginal cost and marginal revenue.

Calculus can be used to find approximate solutions to equations, in methods such as Newton's method, fixed point iteration, and linear approximation. For instance, spacecraft use a variation of the Euler method to approximate curved courses within zero gravity environments."

Now why would any po' white, black, yellow, brown or red chil' possibly want to be fussin'' wit' such stuff as dat'?

[madfloridian]

17. Good post. Take a look at the graphic in tanyev's post below.

And you will see how very low they are sinking in the dumbing down.

By the time I retired, teachers were in effect teaching from a script..fearful to lead the children on a exploratory thinking path.

I would imagine there is mostly test practice now.

Here's a link to the graphic. Pathetic.

http://www.ignitelearning.com/curriculum/heredity_student_activity.pdf

[Old Time Pagan]

18. Thanks for sharing that just after lunch

I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit.

Ah the thorough dumbing down of the masses. Every corporatist's short-term wet dream. Well here we are, now what?

[targetpractice]

2. What is the curriculum content like?

Fair and balanced? ;-)

[tanyev]

4. Experience the engaging combination of Ignite! media and print curriculum!

Lou and Maggie speak!

Directions: Fill in the caption so that Lou and Maggie each state one fact about heredity.

Worst illustration ever at link:
http://www.ignitelearning.com/curriculum/heredity_student_activity.pdf




Is our children learning?

[madfloridian]

5. Wow, I missed that. That is simply pathetic.

Lou and Maggie....terrible example.

Glad you found that.

[jazzjunkysue]

3. The content is irrelevant: The president shouldn't be profiting from his own laws.

I really hope Obama jumps all over this.

The Boosh legacy. While they were cramming NCLB down our throats.

[dmr]

6. Sec of Ed Duncan was on the Ed Show tonight

He spoke of renaming and revamping NCLB, and more than doubling the education budget.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30115211#30115211

Edited to say:

I disagree with you. Content is very relevant.

When it comes to the Bush family, I can't help but see a softer version of the school curriculum in Nicole Kidman's adaption of the 'Stepford Wives'. Just saying ....

[madfloridian]

7. He wants MORE testing of students tied to teacher performance, more charter schools.

Part of the stimulus money will be used so that states can develop data systems, which will enable them to tie individual student test scores to individual teachers

He does not like public schools. I am getting another post ready about his attitude toward them.

[8 track mind]

8. is there anything

I mean ANYTHING that the Bu$h family has done that hasn't been illegal in some way???

[DCKit]

9. If I didn't know the BFEE were such great patriots...

I'd think this was a money laundering scheme.

Hola RICO!!!

[Jakes Progress]

10. Here in Texas

the lege was lobbied (bush connections) to fund a reading program. The upshot was a grant to districts for improving reading. All the districts had to do is detail what they were going to do to improve their reading scores. (Notice they don't say improve reading; just reading scores.) If the state approved of the plan, the district got millions of dollars. It turns out that the only plans to be approved were those they said they would use the money to buy this one reading program (bush connections). Many reading directors were ordered to put this in their reading plan by supt. so that they could get the money. Most reading directors knew the plan was worse than ineffective; it was damaging to reading comprehension.

With their lobbying connections the bush connected company just bypassed all the usual district selection or state adoption process. In effect the lege spent our tax money on a program that underwent no due process.

Whenever businesses and schools are brought up, there is always a shower of angry arguments regarding Charters. Some Charters work. Some don't. The problem is letting business get it's greedy little nose in the door. The corporate world has a fortune to be made by convincing everyone that their schools are terrible. The news media has bought or has been bought. It has become automatic to use the term "awful school system". The evidence is all anecdotal and skewed. This is a case were the uber rich have co-opted large portions of the progressive citizenry. It is a battle in the war of the rich on the middle class that they have already won.

[madfloridian]

12. "letting business get it's greedy little nose in the door."

Well said.

[1monster]

11. Talk about an oxymoron: Bush-education.

:eyes:

[madfloridian]

13. Just an afterthought: Duncan says the name NCLB is toxic. He will rename it

and fund it, but NOT get rid of it.

From the Ed Schultz interview:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30115211#30115211

He wants more of the stimulus going to testing of students and a database to tie their scores to teachers more easily.

"It turns out that Duncan, like the Bush administration, adores testing, charter schools, merit pay, and entrepreneurs. Part of the stimulus money, he told Sam Dillon of The New York Times, will be used so that states can develop data systems, which will enable them to tie individual student test scores to individual teachers, greasing the way for merit pay. Another part of the stimulus plan will support charters and entrepreneurs."

Testing companies will rejoice...greedy hands of businesses wanting a piece of public schools will reach out eagerly.

It's like a contest to see how many different kinds of schools we can have, and how many special interests like the Bush family stirring the pot.

[Stinger2]

14. This is really called “Privatizing” the republican way

No Bush Left Behind - The President's brother Neil is making hay from school reform

Across the country, some teachers complain that President George W. Bush's makeover of public education promotes "teaching to the test." The President's younger brother Neil takes a different tack: He's selling to the test. The No Child Left Behind Act compels schools to prove students' mastery of certain facts by means of standardized exams. Pressure to perform has energized the $1.9 billion-a-year instructional software industry.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005059.htm


This is really called “Privatizing” the republican way. Make up something we didn’t need and charge billions for it. Diebolt anther great Scam;

Fix Voting Process

O'Dell says he plans to improve the unit he created in 2002 with the $41.3 million purchase of McKinney, Texas-based Global Election Systems Inc. in February 2002. Diebold aimed to capture some of the $3.9 billion Congress approved that year to help states improve voting systems.

The Fix was in and out, steal as much as you can and get out before you get caught. So then you fire investigators, corruption never seen before in American history. “Greed Ruled Well for those in the Know!

Think Tanks working overtime, you know Bush didn’t think this stuff up.

[madfloridian]

15. "selling to the test"....good point.

Making a killing testing the children so they can judge teachers and close schools and open them up as charter schools.

[tbyg52]

19. >>When anyone, no matter who they may be, begin to profit from public schools

Oh, heck, companies profit from public schools all the time. You'd think they'd cut us a break, but they view us as cash cows. Disney is practically the gestapo, for example.

[checks-n-balances]

20. Not just COW, but CASH COW, would be more like it

Anybody on DU who thinks NCLB was established for benign/benevolent reasons needs to think again.

Obama needs to be careful about becoming a tool w/regard to this issue. Arne Duncan already is.