NYDOE awarded 27 million no bid contract to a Murdoch News Corp company.

[madfloridian]

From the NY Daily News in June:

New York State Department of Education awards News Corp. company $27M no-bid contract


Bryan Smith for News
Joel Klein took a job at News Corp overseeing their educational technology business after he left the chancellor job in December.

The state Education Department is poised to award a $27 million no-bid contract to a company former city Schools Chancellor Joel Klein oversees, the Daily News has learned. The money - part of the state's $700 million in Race to the Top winnings - will go to Wireless Generation, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., to develop software to track student test scores, among other things.

Klein took a job at News Corp. overseeing its educational technology business after he left the chancellor job in December.

City rules forbid former workers from contacting the agency that employed them for one year, but the rules would not formally bar contact between Klein and the state.

"It raises all kinds of red flags," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York. "It just smacks of an old-boys club, where large amounts of public money are spent based not on 'is this the best product?' but 'I know this guy and I like him and I want to be sure he makes a lot of money.'"

Especially now that Joel Klein is the go to guy for questions and answers in the scandals of Murdoch's company

An official message sent to staff following her 4pm meeting reveals Will Lewis, Simon Greenberg and Jeff Palker – Brooks's lieutenants – will "report directly" to New York based Joel Klein on the clean-up.

The key paragraphs from Brooks's message to staff are below:

"People have asked if it is right for me, as CEO of News International and as the Editor of the News of the World until January 2003, to oversee our efforts to assess allegations, address serious issues and prevent them from happening again. I'm determined that News International does this.

For the avoidance of any doubt, however, the News Corporation independent directors agree with James Murdoch's recommendation that the Management and Standards Committee, comprised of Will Lewis, Simon Greenberg and Jeff Palker, report directly to Joel Klein in New York. Joel is leading and directing the Company's overall handling of this matter. Many of you will know that Joel is a respected former Assistant Attorney General of the United States. Joel and Viet Dinh, an independent director, are giving oversight and keeping our parent Company's Board advised as well."

Race to the Top money is public money, federal government money given by Arne Duncan to improve education.

There is really something wrong with this picture.

[Hydra]

1. It's all so incestuous

The money goes to shell corps that funnel it to the usual suspects. Carlyle(Bushco), Goldman Sachs, Fauxnoise...

[madfloridian]

4. Most likely you are right about that.

They keep the public in the dark and conduct business in secret.

[Hydra]

5. It's absurd on the one hand

And frightening on the other. It's absurd how much money they are stealing. The number is so high that it becomes meaningless...but the fact is that these families OWN every piece of our society through these shell corps.

Talk about control...

[madfloridian]

7. "these families OWN every piece of our society through these shell corps."

Scary indeed.

[murray hill farm]

2. I wonder...

How Fox "news" is covering this story...or are they just not saying anything?

[madfloridian]

8. I can never bring myself to watch Fox.

I never go there.

[Blue Owl]

3. Jeb Bu$h-style edumacation at its very finest

:puke:

[Wilms]

6. Nice. n/t

[Snoutport]

9. ugh

more tax dollars in murdoch's pocket. grrrrrrrr.

[aquart]

10. No bid? Who's going to investigate Joel Klein?

[McCamy Taylor]

11. Wonder who they blackmailed to get this contract....

[sulphurdunn]

12. The nation's public school systems

are being bled by corporate leeches. Left untreated, they will kill the host.

[annabanana]

13. oh kick!.. Can we please get Murdoch OUT of the classrooms?. . .n/t

[madfloridian]

15. and all the other reformers as well

:-(

[WhiteTara]

14. Time to call Arne. Here's how

http://www2.ed.gov/about/contacts/tollfree/index.html?src=ln

and how about his facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/SecretaryArneDuncan

I'm in. Are you?

[Uncle Joe]

16. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, madfloridian.

[madrchsod]

17. phone "taps" and bribes..news corp is going down....

[madfloridian]

18. And about time.

:hi:

[KoKo]

19. Big KICK & REC....!

[fascisthunter]

20. our system has been corrupted from within... I consider this all an Attack

against the people of this country.