Today, the House Committee on Education and Labor Hearing on "Mismanagement and Conflicts of Interest in the Reading First Program." In response to a question from Committee Chair George Miller (D-CA), the Inspector General at the Department of Education, John P. Higgins, Jr., testified that he has made criminal referrals relating to the program to the Department of Justice:

A federal investigator looking into allegations of conflict of interest and mismanagement in a $1 billion-a-year Education Department reading program said Friday he has made criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

John Higgins, the Education Department's inspector general, refused to specify for reporters what he has asked government prosecutors to look at, but investigators have been highly critical of the department's management of the Reading First program.

Criminal referrals are made by investigators when they encounter evidence of possible federal crimes, which only the Justice Department has authority to prosecute.

This is the first indication we've seen that criminal activity may be involved with what USA Today referred to as "a slow-motion scandal surrounding a federal multibillion-dollar reading program."

As reported in February of this year, the Bush Administration's "Reading First Program" has been the subject of two critical reports by the Inspector General at the Department of Education:

The IG found that the training programs set up by the Department to educate states about the Reading First program violated the prohibition against controlling individual school curricula by promoting specific reading materials and instructions to the financial of benefit companies – such as McGraw Hill and Voyager – headed by top Bush administration donors. The IG also found that the Department failed to adequately assess “issues of bias and objectivity” in approving technical assistance providers.

CREW is engaged in litigation with the Dept. of Education based on DOE’s failure to release certain records required by law to be made public.