Why Is Bush's Kid Brother Neil Getting Federal Funding?

[marmar]

from AlterNet's PEEK:


Why Is Bush's Kid Brother Neil Getting Federal Funding?

Posted by Liliana Segura at 12:06 PM on September 13, 2007.

It's all part of a tidy little racket involving No Child Left Behind and strange devices called COWS.


So here's a tidy little racket: After being installed president thanks to a voting fracas in a state conveniently governed by your brother, cook up a national educational curriculum and place at its center the standardized test. Give the curriculum a name with a wink and a nudge, like, oh, "No Child Left Behind." Then, funnel taxpayer money to equipping schools with a gimmicky learning device focused on standardized tests and sold by your other brother, the sadly anonymous one, whose only (fading) claim to fame is a role in the Savings and Loan scandal of the late 80s.

Despite having no experience in education, Neil Bush is the founder of a Texas-based company called Ignite! Learning, which, since 1999 has peddled strange little devices called "Curriculums on Wheels" (COWs) to schools state and nationwide. Rather than anything bovine, COWs actually resemble bright plastic droids or office chairs gone terribly wrong. Described as "computer/projectors," it's not really clear what they do or how they work, and a cursory look at the company's website ( http://www.ignitelearning.com/) does not help. (Apparently it involves swivel action.) Regardless, there are COWs for different subjects: the Math COW, the Science COW ("the ultimate classroom sidekick!") and the Social Studies COW.

No sign of a sex-ed COW.

Despite glowing testimonials on Ignite!'s website, many teachers are unimpressed, arguing the COWs focus on rote memorization rather than critical thinking skills. (Really, just not what one would expect from a Bush.) Citing the absence of any evidence whatsoever that these devices actually work--they have yet to be peer reviewed--one group has described the COW as "a very expensive device with limited use." ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/62528/

[Redstone]

1. Uh, because he's bush's kid brother, maybe?

Are you at all surprised to find this out? I'm not.

(Not that I'm criticizing you for posting this information, OK? It's good that people like you help bringing things like this into the public eye.)

Redstone

[arikara]

2. I vaguely remember

the money that Babs and Poppy donated for Katrina relief was earmarked for education... to go to you guessed it... Neil's Ignite. A nice little scam indeed to get a tax writeoff for a "donation" to your son.

Now I don't have links and I don't have time to look for them either. If that's what they did, the info is out there, and if not my apologies.

[PCIntern]

3. Why not?

The US bailed out the S&L...so why not? What's your problem? If you can't give kickbacks and contracts to your friends, what's the point of going thru all this in the first place?

As long as you're a Republican. If you're a Dem, you should go to jail for life.

:sarcasm: - for those who don't know me well...I forgot to post that one time and it took 3 hours to set everyone who was pissed right.

[Rick Myers]

4. Here's a photo of Neil's COW

Looks like a cheap boombox on wheels!!!