Controversial Special-Ed Contract Halted
Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced (Dec. 15) he had ordered an immediate end to the TEA’s controversial $4.4 million federally funded Individualized Education Program (IEP) Analysis Project with the Georgia-based SPEDx firm.

Media reports reflect that the TEA had paid SPEDx $2.2 million for services already rendered. The stated purpose of the contract was for SPEDx to analyze IEP records of students in participating Texas districts to identify specific approaches to IEP programs showing the most promise for special-ed students.

Significant Concerns
“Significant concerns have been raised regarding our agency’s processes and the scope of the project,” Morath said in the statement, adding:

“The efficacy of the project would be undermined without real support from parents and educators alike. As a result, this project cannot proceed effectively. TEA will continue to work with parents and educators to identify methods to improve outcomes for our special education students.”

The no-bid contract entered into between the TEA and SPEDx has been the subject of controversy since last November, when the TEA’s newly hired special-ed director, Laurie Kash, publicly claimed that she was reprimanded and then fired for voicing her concerns about the contract and for filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education.

Kash claimed that the TEA improperly awarded the contract without seeking bids from other vendors and that another TEA employee awarded the contract to a friend at SPEDx.

The TEA has asserted that Kash was fired due to her not telling the agency that she was the subject of a lawsuit arising from an Oregon school district where she worked as the special-ed director. The suit accuses Kash and others of trying to keep the suit’s plaintiffs from talking about — and reporting to authorities — the alleged sexual abuse of a student.

Kash claimed, via her attorney, that the TEA was advised about the allegations in the Oregon suit, which his client called groundless, prior to her being hired last summer.

The Houston Chronicle reported (Dec. 5) that TEA auditors concluded that there was no basis to the allegations of improprieties voiced by Kash regarding the awarding of the SPEDx contract, a conclusion that Kash’s attorney dismissed as being based on an inadequate investigation into Kash’s specific complaints.

Morath said in his statement that SPEDx was directed to destroy all student information it currently possesses. No state level report using data from this project will be produced.

Morath also said he has begun a review of contracting processes within the agency.