A regular reader called Bethree summarized the Rhode Island situation, in which friends of the Governor won a $5 (plus) million contract, although the corporation was formed only weeks before the contract was awarded and was the high bidder.
She wrote:
Read the wpri.com coverage 9/7,8,14 for the nitty-gritty (google wpri.com McKee ILO). As a one-time procurement supervisor for an engrg co, I found it highly entertaining.
Summary: ILO was incorporated 2 days after McKee’s March 2 election, and invited by his office to submit a bid for the work March 23. 5 bids received in April: 3 bidders knocked out during tech evaluation.
The two remaining bids– $8million vs just under $1million, made it obvious that the scope of work was, shall we say, imprecise. Results of rebid (? Or perhaps just an arm-wrestling session—unclear): ILO $6million, other guy $3million. ILO was apparently given the nod due to its long work history of absolutely bupkis, sadly other guy’s 20-yr history as a state ed consultant just… didn’t measure up. But, no worries– West Ed gets to share the spoils: $5million for ILO [scope K12], $1million for WestEd [scope colleges, U’s]. “’The Review Team believes that no additional time should be wasted on this procurement or a rebid,’ the four-member panel’s final report said.”
“We’ve supported people who get the work done…” McKee said at his weekly news conference Tuesday. “So it didn’t matter who referred or who may have had a relationship. I just want good people who can figure out how to help the state of Rhode Island and education, and that’s what we got.”
“Magee [CFC boss & close McKee buddy/ donor via his brother’s 50CAN PAC] said Chiefs for Change isn’t working with ILO on the contract.” ROFL. Let’s just pretend we didn’t notice ILO was incorporated virtually yesterday, and its partners left Chiefs for Change to form ILO.
The state’s bid package put ILO in the catbird seat from the get-go. Although RI is paying for this work out of Covid-19 aid fed funding, the scope asked for expansion of “municipal education offices” outside the purview of traditional LEA’s. That’s a scheme realized in Cumberland by then-Mayor McKee and buddy Magee of CFS. McKee has 5 more such offices planned, to be run out of his office, for the [state-run] Providence school system. A full half of ILO’s proposed workhrs are devoted to that thinly veiled ed privatization; stated goal “to address lost learning and catch up and long-term learning programs.”
That leaves $2.5million for safe school reopening during covid. How is ILO doing 2 wks after students returned to bldgs? “…RI Assoc of School Committees exec dir Tim Duffy… surveyed all school supts and school chairs… ‘So far, there’s only one district that’s asked the ILO Group to review their school reopening plans, and that was Little Compton. The rest… haven’t been contacted and are not even aware of the services the consulting firm offers… reopening efforts this year have been guided by the U.S. CDC, the RI Dept of Health and RI Dept of Education.” He also noted the timing of the ILO news: ‘School reopening has already happened.’ Duffy’s comments contrasted with ILO’s Tuesday, when partner Cerena Parker cited helping schools reopen as one of the consulting firm’s biggest accomplishments so far.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Another example of Cutthroat Capltiasm American style. It doesn’t matter how you gain your wealth. It doesn’t matter how many children and adults suffer while you rake in the dough. It doesn’t matter how much damage you do.
All that counts is wealth acquisition and the power that comes with it, even if it leads to a total collapse of civilization and the end of our species.
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You would think such blatant corruption would lead at least to consequences at the ballot box. Is the legislature all bought and paid for to?
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Gosh that was my first thought too. I wondered if I was being naive, i.e. is this what ed procurement is like?– or just in RI. The work I did long ago was for power generation, hence for utilities, in an era when they were heavily regulated. Shenanigans like this & you ran the risk of PUC denying you a rate increase. But ed procurement may be very different. Even tho records are wide open, you can maybe hide easily behind vague definitions of ed [as opposed to eqpt specs]…
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The big clue here is that no one in the field, so far, reports working with them. And the size of the contract.
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I’d bet if anyone actually is working in the field with them, it is to spread manure.
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The combination of “spreading manure” while “working in the field” with schools appears on the same day as Michelle Rhee’s reappearance is noted. She, of Scott’sMiracle Gro. Coincidence?
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Roy will get that joke, even if no one else does.
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Miracles Are Rheel
Miracles are Rheel
It’s not just how I feel
Cuz Coleman preaches it
And doesn’t give a &#!t
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Yay, you’re back, Somedam! I really thought we’d be hearing from you on McKee and Magee. But Rhee will do.
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Julia Rafael-Baer, COO for CFC worked with the state’s department of ed LEAP task force and had inside information that likely helped secure the bid…..she is a founder of ILO.
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I had to second-guess myself: is it so wrong that ILO Group LLC bid was solicited for this RI work, despite apparently zero previous experience & barely just incorporated? What about my husband’s engrg group? Tho ‘born yesterday’ as a new small co in Oct 2020, they were able to jump right onboard, bidding and getting project awards. Is this the same thing as the ILO spin-off from Chiefs for Change?
Answer: no. That group has been engaged in the same kind of work for many decades despite mergers, spin-offs, name-changes. You can check the roster of resumes & find a group integrated from among about 3 cos with a long record of working together on the type of project you’re soliciting bids for.
Chiefs for Change OTOH has not done consulting work per se. They are “a non-profit, bipartisan network of diverse state and district education chiefs… [which] advocates for policies and practices that are making a difference today for students, and builds a pipeline of talented, diverse Future Chiefs ready to lead major school systems.” So: advocacy and training. If they were actually experienced in consulting [which is for-profit work], they would not have bothered creating a consulting group.
OpenGov [opengovus.com] lists ILO Group LLC as “Corp entity (not tax-exempt).” They have one other incorporation locale in NC, at address of partner Cerena Parker (who left CFC for ILO). Their founding partners/ operating officers came directly from Chiefs for Change. It is not outlandish to imagine these folks have some consulting ability, based on their history as advisors/ trainers. However they’ve published no experience in working to a specified scope/ budget/ schedule. And this is not promising: 6.5 mos after incorporation they do not yet have a functional website, much less list of contracts they claim to be working on. IMHO they should never have been on an approved list of bidders.
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Amendment: a smart ed procurement dept would have given ILO a trial run, IF their bid came in at 50-65% of those of experienced bidders, providing they were willing to eat any overruns. It’s called “buying the job,” and it’s how beginners build a reputation.
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The procurement of their consulting services seems to have been on a fast track. Very unusual for a newly incorporated group that was the high bidder. Even curiouser when the feedback from the field is: who? Never saw them.
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