The Associated Press did a follow up article on the Department of Education's investigation of federal spending on Neil Bush's Ignite! Learning. The New York Times first reported on the investigation in yesterday's paper.

That investigation provides a backdrop to the launch of our new website, governmentdocs.org. As noted below, CREW is previewing that site at 11 a.m today. Browse, search and review all the documents CREW has received from the Department of Education relating to contacts between three Education offices and specified individuals, products or entities associated with Ignite! Learning. The documents can be found here.

In September, CREW requested that the Department of Education’s Inspector General (IG) investigate why federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) funds are being spent on educational products sold by Ignite! Learning, a company founded and headed by Neil Bush, the brother of President George W. Bush. Our letter to the IG can be found here.

Based on CREW's request, the Department of Education's IG is, in fact, conducting an investigation into federal spending on Ignite!.   The New York Times has the story:

The inspector general of the Department of Education has said he will examine whether federal money was inappropriately used by three states to buy educational products from a company owned by Neil Bush, the president’s brother.

John P. Higgins Jr., the inspector general, said he would review the matter after a group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, detailed at least $1 million in spending from the No Child Left Behind program by school districts in Texas, Florida and Nevada to buy products made by Mr. Bush’s company, Ignite Learning of Austin, Tex. Mr. Higgins stated his plans in a letter to the group sent last week.

Members of the group and other critics in Texas contend that school districts are buying Ignite’s signature product, the Curriculum on Wheels, because of political considerations. The product, they said, does not meet standards for financing under the No Child Left Behind Act, which allocates federal money to help students raise their achievement levels, particularly in elementary school reading.

Ignite, founded by Neil Bush in 1999, includes as investors his parents, former President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara. Company officials say that about 100 school districts use the Curriculum on Wheels, known as the Cow, which is a portable classroom with software to teach middle-school social studies, science and math. The units cost about $3,800 each and require about $1,000 a year in maintenance.

Obvisouly, we look forward to the results of the IG's investigation.  CREW's Melanie Sloan explained why we asked for the investigation.  It's quite simple actually.  Ignite! does not meet the requirements of NCLB.   A family relationship with the President shouldn't change the law:

Melanie Sloan, executive director of the group, referring to No Child Left Behind, said: “A constant principle of N.C.L.B. is that children must be taught using scientifically proven methods. Ignite’s Cows simply don’t meet N.C.L.B. standards. This suggests that the real reason N.C.L.B. funds are expended on Ignite is because the founder and C.E.O. is the president’s brother.”

And, by don't have a COW, man, the Palm Beach Post editorializes about the "Curriculum on Wheels" produced by Neil Bush's company, Ignite. Palm Beach County bought the system -- and the results weren't good. CREW wants the Department of Education to determine why federal spends have been spent on Ignite! -- which is what happened in Palm Beach County:

No Child Left Behind is becoming No COW Left Behind.

No, not a moo cow. C.O.W. stands for Curriculum on Wheels. Lots of school districts, including Palm Beach County's, have bought the COWs using No Child Left Behind money. The tab in Palm Beach: $46,000, of which $38,400 was from the federal government.

A COW is a projector on wheels that has software loaded onto a hard drive. Press a button and it "teaches" students social studies or science or math. Well, maybe it does. The nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington says no study ever has demonstrated, to NCLB standards, that the COWs work.

The experience in Palm Beach County wasn't good. Spokesman Nat Harrington said that after trying a few units, "it wasn't something that we wanted to invest in."

Saturday's Austin American-Statesman has an article about the controversy surrounding the use of federal education funds to pay for Neil Bush's Ignite! program.   Austin was one of the schoool districts that used federal funds to obtain Ignite!:  

The company, Ignite! Learning, based in Austin, has sold curriculum-loaded projectors worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to school districts around the country, partially funded through the federal No Child Left Behind Act promoted by the president, according to a letter sent Wednesday from the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Over the past five years, Austin has spent $70,940 for the units, of which nearly $42,400 was federal money, according to documents filed with the letter to the inspector general. Longview has spent $126,400 for the units, of which $94,060 was federal money, according to documents.

In its letter, the watchdog group said there is no evidence the units meet standards in the No Child Left Behind Act.

"It is astonishing that taxpayer dollars are being spent on unproven educational products to the financial benefit of the president's brother," said Melanie Sloan, the group's executive director. "The IG should investigate whether children's educations are being sacrificed so that Neil Bush can rake in federal funds."

Devon Price, director of marketing for Ignite! Learning, confirmed that Neil Bush is the company's founder and chief executive. Bush could not be reached for comment.

The company "has no control over how school districts choose to spend federal funds," a statement said.

"The School Zone" notes CREW's request for an investigation of the Ignite program, run by presidential brother, Neil Bush.  "The School Zone" has taken note of Ignite before, too:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is asking the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general to investigate why federal tax dollars are being spent on products peddled by President Bush's little brother, Neil. (See some of our past entries if you need to catch up on this one.)

A three-month investigation by the nonprofit, Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group found that school districts, including HISD, are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on Ignite! Learning's Curriculum on Wheels. Each unit -- a cart-mounted video projector that's loaded with a science, math or social studies lesson -- costs up to $4,200.

Congress in the midst of debating legislation to re-authorize the controversial "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) program. A three-month long investigation by CREW raises serious questions about the use of NCLB funds to pay for products sold by Neil Bush, the younger brother of President George Bush.

CREW is requesting that the Department of Education’s Inspector General (IG) investigate why federal NCLB funds are being spent on educational products sold by Ignite! Learning, a company founded and headed by Neil Bush. Our letter to the IG can be found here.

Neil Bush, who has no education background, is best known for his role in the failure of Silverado Savings and Loan, which cost taxpayers $1.6 billion. CREW is asking the IG to discover why federal money is being funneled to a company with no proven track record of effectiveness, but so happens to be run by the president’s brother.

Congress has set rigorous standards for the types of educational approaches and products on which NCLB funds can be spent, but CREW’s research shows that Ignite! products do not meet those criteria. In fact, there is no scientific data, as defined by NCLB, supporting the effectiveness of Ignite!’s products.

CREW’s three-month investigation revealed that school districts are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, including NCLB funds, on Ignite!’s Curriculum on Wheels (COW), a cart-mounted video projector and hard drive loaded with a year’s supply of Ignite!’s social studies, science, or math curricula. At a standard price of $3,800-$4,200 per unit, the COW is a very expensive device with limited use. A recent New York Times article about the use of the COW in Spotsylvania, Virginia, put the cost into perspective: each school in the district receives $1,000 "to cover all the lab supplies, equipment and other expenses connected with science for an entire year." Adding to the initial expense, schools must pay an annual $1,000 licensing, upkeep and upgrade fee in order to retain the COW for more than one year.

When we sent the letter to the Inspector General, Melanie Sloan issued this statement:

It is astonishing that taxpayer dollars are being spent on unproven educational products to the financial benefit of the president’s brother. The IG should investigate whether children’s educations are being sacrificed so that Neil Bush can rake in federal funds.

If Ignite! is to continue receiving NCLB funding, its products must be held to NCLB’s stringent standards. With the education of our nation’s students at stake, we hope that the IG spearheads an audit immediately.

Astonishing, but somehow not surprising. This story is obviously developing.