Subplots to undercurrent of unrest at Louisiana School for the Deaf include political infighting, self-interest ventures
Subplots to undercurrent of unrest at Louisiana School for the Deaf include political infighting, self-interest ventures
October 18, 2022 by tomaswell
A decade ago, Louisiana’s graduation rate for special education students stood at a dismal 28 percent. That was because Louisiana was one of only a handful of states that required students with disabilities to take the same standardized tests and to make the same scores as students without disabilities.
HOUSE BILL 1015 in the 2014 regular legislative session by then-Rep. John Schroeder and Sen. Dan Claitor and co-sponsored by literally dozens of legislators from both the House and Senate mandated that an exceptional student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) would provide an “alternative pathway” to promotion.
The bill would sail through both chambers and was signed into law as Act 833 but not before State Education Superintendent John White and State Director of Special Education Jamie Wong “did everything in their power” to kill the measure, including testifying themselves in opposition to the bill in Senate and House education committees and importing cronies from Washington, D.C., to testify against it, one source told LouisianaVoice.
As a result of passage and implementation of the act, the SPED graduation rate today stands near 70 percent and both White and Wong promptly moved to the front of the line to TAKE CREDIT for its success, that same person said.
As a reward for Wong’s efforts on behalf of Special Education, White in July 2018 conferred upon her the title of appointing authority “for all employees or positions in the Special School District, including the authority to remove or dismiss all employees, including classified employees who have attained permanent status, approve layoff and layoff avoidance measures for all employees, including classified employees who have attained permanent tatus and set hiring rates for unclassified executive positions.”
That was particularly grating to one person who said Wong was “unqualified to consult on anything in special education.”
Wong was first hired in July 2014 at $110,000 per year just about the time she and her husband were moving from Washington to Louisiana so that her husband could work in the upcoming gubernatorial campaign of US Sen. David Vitter.
She had previously served as the education policy legislative correspondent for former US Sen. Mary Landrieu.
Not too long after being given the hiring and firing authority at SSD, Wong began casting her eye at the superintendent’s position. She actively lobbied for the position but Dr. Ernest Garrett, III, was ultimately chosen in August 2020 only to fall victim to the typical Louisiana purge in July of this year when he was fired on the vague grounds of “payroll discrepancies,” becoming one of the first of a succession of firings and resignations that have rocked the Louisiana School for the Deaf.
But even before she pursued the job of SSD superintendent, Wong was hedging her bets by launching a special education consulting company – while still employed by the Department.
On Dec. 1, 2019, she left her position as director of special education and the very next day was named as an education program consultant for DOE at $46 per hour.
But a month earlier, on Nov. 5, she had registered her new special education consulting company, SPED STRAGEGIES, to contract with parish education systems statewide – even as she remained working for the Department of Education (DOE), an apparent conflict of interests and a potential ethics concern because of her individually contracting with local education districts while being simultaneously employed by DOE.
Moreover, in contracting with local school systems, Wong signed a sworn affidavit dated Oct. 27, 2021, claiming that SPED Strategies was a “sole source” provider of services because competition in providing special education collaborative services “is precluded by the existence of a patent, copyright, secret process, or monopoly.”
Designation as a sole source provider allows a vendor to circumvent the state bid requirements and to be awarded a contract for services or products without competitive bidding.
In an accompanying letter dated Nov. 1, 2021, Wong said, “SPED Strategies is the sole creator of the SPED analysis and progress monitoring tool and corresponding district coaching support. The methodology and training involved with this tool continues to evolve as we develop customized experiences for our partners. The tool provides school systems with critical information about the performance and progress of students with disabilities and strategies for improving outcomes.”
Jamie Kelly, supervisor of special education for the Sabine Parish School Board, also provided a Nov. 8, 2021, but which seemed to approach the sole source issue from a different perspective. In her letter she said SPED Strategies was the only company available to come to the parish and “provide direct services to the staff and hold parent meetings when needed.”
Not so, said a spokesman for a consulting firm that he said provides “the same and additional” services. “Many companies provide these services. I don’t see anything that is proprietary on their (SPED Strategies) website.
“Sole source is very difficult to achieve as a consulting firm,” he added. “Even the national consulting firms are not sole source.”
A month after Garrett was appointed superintendent of SSD, Wong resigned at DOE.