From House Education/Labor Committee website:
Chairman Miller Asks Secretary Spellings to Provide Answers on Why
Education Department Failed to Provide Complete Reading First
Program Information to Committee Investigators
Thursday, April 19, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the
House Education and Labor Committee, sent the following letter today
to U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings about information
that the Department of Education failed to provide to the Committee
to assist in its investigation of mismanagement and conflicts of
interest in the Reading First program.
***
Dear Madam Secretary:
Today, your Department issued a state-by-state report on the federal
Reading First program. This report includes comprehensive
information on the assessment products that the states use to
evaluate student progress on reading.
As you know, Education and Labor Committee staff members have been
conducting a months-long investigation into mismanagement and
conflicts of interest in Reading First. As part of that
investigation, on February 27, 2007, Committee investigators
submitted a written request to the Department for state-by-state
breakdowns of the Reading First funding that went to specific
reading programs (which included core, supplemental and assessment
programs) in use by the states. Committee investigators reiterated
this request during a meeting with Department staff on March, 29 2007.
The Department did not provide the requested information in full to
the Committee until yesterday, Wednesday, April 18, 2007. Yet much
of the requested information is the same as the information on
assessments included in the report that is being publicly released
today. It is obvious that a great deal of time went into preparing
and formatting this report. It is therefore clear that much of the
information requested by Committee investigators was available
earlier than the date it was provided by the Department to the Committee.
It is inconceivable to me that the Department withheld the requested
information from Committee investigators who have been conducting a
formal Congressional inquiry. Please respond to this letter in
writing by 9:00 a.m. tomorrow with the following information:
*When the Department first possessed the information in today's
report on types of reading assessments used by the states; and
*Whether, to your knowledge, Department staff deliberately withheld
that information from Committee investigators.
This is an inquiry into troubling evidence of waste, fraud, and
abuse in the Reading First program. The Committee is investigating
the corrupt process by which the program was implemented. It goes
without saying that I expect and demand the Department's full
cooperation in providing documents and information in a timely manner.
Sincerely,
GEORGE MILLER
Chairman, Education and Labor Committee