On C.O.W.’s, Bushes and Fla.

The Sunshine State is cited in a New York Times story today about an education products company owned by Neil Bush, brother of Jeb and George W. Responding to a request from a watchdog group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the inspector general at the Department of Education said last week that he’d review Neil’s company, Ignite! Learning (aren't all these exclamation points obnoxious!!!) to see whether federal money was wrongly used to buy the company’s signature product, the Curriculum on Wheels, or C.O.W.

A Sept. 12 letter from CREW that sparked the federal review cites $900,000 in federal funds spent on Ignite! products, including $13,000 in Orange County, Fla., and $38,400 in Palm Beach County, Fla. According to the Times, CREW and other critics say districts are buying C.O.W.’s because of political considerations, not educational merit. According to this editorial, Palm Beach educators weren’t impressed.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter