Rupert Murdoch given $27M no-bid contract from state Department of Education Read more: http://www.

[tpsbmam]

Source: NY Daily News

More than a dozen private firms wanted to work on a project like the one the state Education Department is set to award to a Rupert Murdoch-owned company in a $27 million no-bid contract.

Agency officials have cited "an extremely challenging time line" in their decision to partner with News Corp. subsidiary Wireless Generation to build a data system of student test scores and other information.

The Daily News has learned that the agency has explored the project for at least two years - proof, critics say, state officials had ample time to competitively bid out the contract and still meet a fall 2012 deadline for a federal Race to the Top grant.

"It raises all kinds of questions," said Susan Lerner, executive director of good government group Common Cause New York. "There appears to be time in this process to go through a much more open-bidding process to ensure that the public is getting the best vendor at the best price."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/07/31/2011-07-31_rupert_ripoff_alert_16_firms_were_up_for_27m_doe_deal_murdoch_will_get_bidfree.html

---

Oh great, so here's more money wasted that should be going to schools that are desperately needing funds. Noooo, we have to burden the kids and the system with oodles of standardized tests and then give a no bid to Rupert Murdoch to store & analyze the data. What a fucking scam!

[Fearless]

1. End high stakes testing now. It is harmful.

[Auntie Bush]

2. How can we even trust the scores that are sent in?

School's will lose too much by not scoring adequately...making it ripe for cheating. Then Rupert Turdduck gains financially again. And we can trust him?

Everything is a total scam in this supposedly great country!

[Lasher]

3. That is also true of No Child Left Behind.

Cheating has surely occurred since its inception, and continues to this day.

[chervilant]

23. Yeah, well,

RTTT is just a 'new, and improved!' version of NCLB...

[tpsbmam]

6. There is absolutely no way I'll trust the scores

and I shudder when I think about what the ramifications will be. This is corporatocracy at its scariest -- they implement the policies and then they keep the analyses of the policies "in house," leaving us with no faith that there's any truth to their claims. The whole push toward this kind of America scares the shit out of me!

[Bozita]

12. DFP Survey: Nearly 30% of Michigan teachers report pressure to cheat

Survey: Nearly 30% of Michigan teachers report pressure to cheat
1:57 AM, Jul. 27, 2011 | 250 Comments
BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY AND KRISTI TANNER-WHITE
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

One out of three public school educators report pressure from bosses, parents or others to change grades, and nearly 30% say pressure to cheat on standardized tests is a problem at their school, according to a voluntary Free Press survey of Michigan educators.

At schools that don't meet federal standards, the tension is higher: About 50% say pressure to change grades is an issue, and 46% say pressure to cheat on the tests is a problem.

Some cave in -- about 8% say they changed grades within the last school year, and at least 8% admit to some form of cheating to improve a student's standardized test score.

The survey results show the pressures on educators as the state moves toward making student progress and test scores a major factor in teacher evaluations starting in 2013. The comments left by survey-takers reveal frustration with reliance on standardized tests to judge both students and teachers.

more...
http://www.freep.com/article/20110727/NEWS06/107270396/Survey-Nearly-30-Michigan-teachers-report-pressure-cheat

[patrice]

24. There should be entire menus of various KINDS of testing, including AUTHENTIC assessment, that ARE

available, and everyone should DISCUSS what the various merits and liabilities of each are. They should also be available on calendars that are defined by certain roles that are more directly knowledgeable about the person being tested, including that person him/her -self

[midnight]

33. I agreee..... And doing business with this organization that has been revealed to be disreputable

and harmful to society.. This is really unsafe to have our children around such an organization....

[Lifelong Protester]

4. Hate to sound paranoid, but it has been nothing BUT right wing

scams for public education since W. Maybe before, but that is when it really started hitting home for me.

[nickesq]

11. NY Education Contract for Murdoch

Maybe he can teach hacking? Jokes aside, of course testing is a right-wing agenda. If you are testing rote memorization, you can't be teaching critical thinking, analysis, art, etc. The subjects that create well-rounded individuals who are capable of exercising rational decision-making powers necessary of citizens in a democracy. Such people cannot be brainwashed easily since they question and examine what the hear and see.

I have long wondered how poor whites who carry the water for the Republican party can vote contrary to their own economic interests. Is it that the Republicans push their cultural hot buttons? Is that that psychologically they are subject to a more rigid brain function? Please. I really want to know what you think.

[Lifelong Protester]

15. I believe up to now it has been the pushing of cultural hot buttons

later, when they (the right wing) has destroyed public education, it will be because of lack of critical thinking skills having been developed among the masses, and indoctrination for the private school crowd.

Education, public education, is the 'enemy' of the right. Too many 'ideas' out there. And heaven forbid we get kids together on college campuses any more! They might learn to think and mingle with others who have ideas other than their own.

Why do you think that there is this sudden push for online education??

[roxiejules]

5. Reeks of cronyism

http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2011/06/another-super-mugging-ny-state.html


The Gates Foundation, which pushed data systems and testing as part of "Race to the Top", has also selected WirelessGen to “build its national Shared Learning Infrastructure,” in what is likely to prove a generous windfall for Joel Klein and Rupert Murdoch.

[disndat]

9. Absolutely, a Joel Klein/Murdoch connection.

It was reported that Joel Klein awarded R.Murdoch the no-bid contract even prior to J. Klein's appt. to be top dog at the Murdoch establishment. The NYTimes reported how uncomfortable J. Klein is now that the hacking scandal with Murdoch News in London has exploded. Seeing J.K. sitting next to Wendi Murdoch at the Parliamentary hearings is proof of how high up J.K. is in Murdoch's inner circle. Diane Ravitch, the well-known expert on educator, now at the New York University Dept. of Education said the Bloomberg/Klein's Charter Schools arrangement is somehow involved with hedge funds. Maybe some knowledgeable DUer can shed some light.

[roxiejules]

28. Discredit public ed; take money away; funnel to wealthy; weaken democratic control

http://www.openleft.com/diary/18640/evil-ed-inc-the-wall-streetcharter-school-connection


What happens is the investors who put up the money to build charter schools get to basically or virtually double their money in seven years through a thirty-nine percent tax credit from the federal government. In addition, this is a tax credit on money that they're lending, so they're also collecting interest on the loans as well as getting the thirty-nine percent tax credit. They piggy-back the tax credit on other kinds of federal tax credits like historic preservation or job creation or brownfields credits.



So, here's a quick run-down;

(1) The attack on public education itself is a prime example of the attack on social democratic ideas and institutions....this serves to discredit public education, take money away from the public education system, and take money and jobs away from public employees and their unions.

(2) The siphoning off of certain students into separate learning environments is part of the conservative agenda for inscribing hierarchical differences in society.

(3) The creation of lucrative money-making opportunities funnels public money to more wealthy members of society.

(4) The creation of private governance structures further strengthens the power of unaccountable conservative elites, weakening democratic control.

(5) The private governance structures in turn empower crony networks that can also serve as organizing foundations for further consolidation of conservative power.




More Hedge fund connections:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=589420&mesg_id=589540

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/hedge-funds-scholarly-investments/

http://mayoraltutorial.com/articles/rahms_hedge_funders_create_education_market

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

45. Thanks for that explanation...

... my sister in law has my nieces going to charter schools in Mesa, Az, and it really gets my goat. They were just up here in Sioux Falls this past week to visit and although it went well, I only got to see the nieces once. They are 7 and 5 1/2, and the cronyism/elitism was there, as she stated, "this is MY FAMILY vacation", so no time to see my brother and his daughters.

Risking a family feud (even my mom endorses them going to charter schools, and is no doubt paying for them to attend, too) I will send your info along to them. I knew charter schools were/are a scam to drain funds from public schools, but not to this extent of tax breaks and returns on money invested.

Sincerely, thanks!

[Blue_Tires]

60. +1

[City Lights]

7. How do I get a "no bid contract?"

All I need is one...

[awoke_in_2003]

16. same here...

I won't be greedy, just 2 million :)

[KansDem]

34. I never heard of a "no-bid contract" until W stole the White House

Then it was "no-bid contracts" galore for Halliburton and other connected corporations.

I thought the bidding process got the best services and products for the lowest prices? :shrug:

[oldhippydude]

sorry dupe

computer froze

[oldhippydude]

49. actually

no bid has been around in the Defense Industry forever... but you properly observe that it took W. to make it standard operating procedure.. cronyism on steroids..

[Forward Observer]

54. Do you know any eskimos?

Plug "eskimos no bid contract" into your web browser and let fly. If the results you receive are anything like those that pop up in my window-on-the-world, then you may find yourself in a position to explain the successes of a number of organizations that have garnered nefarious reputations here and elsewhere over the years.

The very first item on my list of responses covers some of the details of a 97,000 word investigation prepared by the Washington Post. Alarming to say the least.

[jwirr]

8. When and by who was this deal finalized? In other words who is

to blame for this deal.

[seafan]

10. Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp behind aggressive push into 'bold educational reform'

There are a tremendous number of details in this link. Murdoch's operatives in his big 'educational push to privatize' include Jeb Bush, Michelle Rhee, Rick Scott and others.


Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp behind aggressive push into 'bold educational reform', July 27, 2011



What this man is doing must be stopped.



Rupert Murdoch given $27M no-bid contract from state Department of Education, NY Daily News, July 31, 2011

More than a dozen private firms wanted to work on a project like the one the state Education Department is set to award to a Rupert Murdoch-owned company in a $27 million no-bid contract.

Agency officials have cited "an extremely challenging time line" in their decision to partner with News Corp. subsidiary Wireless Generation to build a data system of student test scores and other information.

The Daily News has learned that the agency has explored the project for at least two years - proof, critics say, state officials had ample time to competitively bid out the contract and still meet a fall 2012 deadline for a federal Race to the Top grant.

"It raises all kinds of questions," said Susan Lerner, executive director of good government group Common Cause New York. "There appears to be time in this process to go through a much more open-bidding process to ensure that the public is getting the best vendor at the best price."

.....

And he has been aggressively lobbying for this, as revealed in the article.




How Rupert Murdoch Could Get His Hands On Your Kid's Information--And It's Legal. Alternet, July 20, 2011

Earlier this week, Rupert Murdoch’s testimony before a committee of the UK Parliament riveted audiences and sent ripples of outrage, disbelief and revulsion to viewers worldwide. Now, in yet another dramatic twist, the multifaceted scandal has managed to make its way across the Atlantic, rearing its head in the New York State Education Department with former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein.

The background story involves the award of a $27 million no-bid contract by the New York State Education Department to Wireless Generation, an education technology company purchased by Murdoch’s News Corp. in November 2010. The allotted $27 million will enable Wireless Generation to produce a statewide data system that gathers both the academic and personal information of students throughout the state in order to track their academic progress. The contract comes from a chunk of New York State’s $700 million Race to the Top grants, a product of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed into law by President Obama in February 2009. Race to the Top, according to the Department of Education, is “a competitive grant program designed to encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform.”

.....

In a June 9 media release, New York State United Teachers Union vice-president Maria Neira voiced concern that the State Department attempted to minimize publicity surrounding the contract. “The Regents chancellor and state Education Department leaders demand ever-increasing transparency and accountability from teachers, but pay lip service to transparency and accountability when it comes to awarding lucrative contracts to their friends and political allies,” said Neira.

.....

“People are waking up to the fact that the Murdoch empire is too powerful…this is a small problem, but it won’t be the last one. A lot of people in New York will be beginning to focus on this,” Dan Cantor, executive director of the New York Working Families Party told AlterNet.

.....

We would not have heard this information if not for the UK phone hacking/computer hacking scandal by the Rupert Murdoch media empire dragons.


Again, this man's gargantuan media empire is a colossally destructive influence upon everything it touches. And now he wants to dismantle public education in America and around the world.



His poisonous influence must be severely curtailed and dismantled.

[sulphurdunn]

13. Look at the bright side.

Now that he has a legal contract he won't need to steal the data.

[YvonneCa]

32. Bloomber gTV just ran a 'Risk Takers" show about Michelle Rhee...

...and DCPS. It tells the whole story of her time as Chancellor in DC and how she started StudentsFirst. Very pro-Rhee. Leaves out 'Waiting For Superman' movie altogether.

I bring this up, because I think there was mention in this program about Murdoch and his connection to Joel Klein and the New York Ed. reform movement.

[seafan]

38. Murdoch's lieutenants include Jeb Bush, Michelle Rhee, and Rick Scott.

Hell, Jeb and Michelle are the star speakers at pay-to-play lunches down here in Florida, pushing Rhee's "Students First", a national "advocacy" outfit, created to oppose the influence of teachers' unions. Still trying to find out if Murdoch is pouring money into this PAC.


Lots of dots hotly fusing together for many people now. Gawd, I hope so.

[SoapBox]

14. Well, WTF?

...uh, NO! No "no bid" contracts.

It's UN-American.

[LuckyLib]

17. The Bush administration made sure to pack USDE with "educators" from Texas and Florida.

Folks with minimal or spotty history in the profession, straight up Republicans each and every one. At every level the department is populated with folks with minimal background/knowledge/skills. It's no wonder no-bid contracts get through the "administrators". Will Halliburton be in line next?

[oldhippydude]

50. it works well

with our privatized prison system.. cradle to grave cronyism, and repression... we are not human beings we are a crop

[glinda]

18. IS there a petition anywhere to oppose this? Could not find one.

[Enthusiast]

19. "It raises all kinds of questions"

Gee, ya think?

[Initech]

20. Murdoch and Education are two words that should not belong in the same sentence.

[alp227]

21. Rupert Murdoch, corporate criminal and now welfare king n/t

[matt819]

22. Investigate

Investigate every single person involved in this decision process to look for the bribe money. You know that pockets have been lined for this contract. And in how many more cities are they doing the same thing?

This is how the RW and the crooks (but I repeat myself) succeed. They tie the entire system up in knots dealing with their perfidy.

[patrice]

25. What the fuck is up with these fucking NO BID contracts??? Bullshit! nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

26. 1) Nothing should be awarded anything related to Murdoch. 2) I'm a former teacher....

TEACHING TO THE TEST (which is what happens when implementation of 1 test being the pass-fail system for schools, teachers, and students), is not teaching at all. It's memorization and the teaching of skills to take ONE PARTICULAR TEST. It doesn't teach other skills, it doesn't actually teach anything at all. It teaches how to PASS ONE PARTICULAR TEST. Period.

[Quasimodem]

27. Does that $27 million . . .

Does Rupert's $27 million come out of the millions the Bush Crime Family's been sucking out of the No Child Left Behind funds?

I thought not.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1022-02.htm

[erodriguez]

29. Pay to play in bloomberg's NYC

[No Elephants]

57. ? It's a state contract.

[bluesbassman]

30. Are you kidding me? $27M for a data base?

Oracle probably has something sitting on the shelf that could be up and running in a month for a quarter the cost.

[roxiejules]

40. What if most of our deficit was actually based on corruption like this?

What would an audit of our national debt show? No bid contracts and bailouts handed over to the wealthy for their further enrichment at our expense? For crises such as "War", "TARP" and "Our Failing Schools"?

There is a new Greek documentary, DEBTOCRACY (well worth watching) that reports not only on the Greek debt but delves into the Ecuador public debt and how, after an audit by the people it was discovered that their debt was illegal on the basis that it had been used for projects that benefited only a "few" through corruption.




Our government called us bums and our lenders “PIGS”. Our ministers tried to convince us that all of us had a part in this.

- Greek citizen calling for an audit of their public debt

[defendandprotect]

31. "It's nice to be King -- " ..... !!!!!

[ooglymoogly]

35. Get a high priced bully lobbyist, who knows how to dig up some

dirt and spread some money around and wallah! Somebody gives you 27 million to do essentially nothing but what you are good at....crookery and brainwashing. Hey its a good scam. Our intrepid government is inundated with them every day....and if the under the table is good enough what the heck...its the pugrat way...sometimes called "the third way".

[ooglymoogly]

46. Sorry wrong place....So you wanted to know how pugrats get rich and steal our money?

This is how.

[Snoutport]

36. k & r

[tcaudilllg]

37. More lies.

[russspeakeasy]

39. I wouldn't trust these people to report yesterday's weather.

[abelenkpe]

41. You have got to be kidding. Nt

[Hubert Flottz]

42. I wonder who gets a big kick-back from Rupert?

You can bet your ass somebody did, or will.

[madrchsod]

43. a lot of kick backs and bribes going down in our public eduction

but that`s not surprising knowing how duncan ran the chicago school system.

where did the million dollars worth of computers and related items stored in the cps warehouse go?

[KurtNYC]

44. Now when they hack your phone they will already know your reading score

As long as they are hacking emails maybe they could just grade those.

This deal incentivises News Corp to promote standardized test through their media.

[ooglymoogly]

47. So you wanted to know how pugrat con artists get rich and steal our money?

This is how. Multiply this by a gazillion and you see where the trillions went.

[classysassy]

48. Who is in charge

of the nuts that give our money to criminally insane people?

[RedCloud]

51. Did they hack their way into this?

[Reader Rabbit]

52. This is pretty much what education "reform" is all about.

Getting more of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of private industry.

[chaperonio]

53. Unbelievable

Why?

[Mosaic]

55. Murdoch predicted to lose his company

By Michael Wolf

http://tvnews.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10021

[Uncle Joe]

56. I can't help but wonder if hacking was somehow involved in this decision making process.

Thanks for the thread, tpsbmam.

[AndyTiedye]

58. When Rupert Says He Wants the Contract He Gets the Contract. Or Else

someone's private voicemails will be on the 6 o'clock news.

[No Elephants]

59. so, was Dem Gov. Spitzer responsible, or Dem. Acting Gov. Paterson?