Peyton Wolcott - Commentary - ERDI / Education Research & Development Inst.

P E Y T O N W O L C O T T

Conservative Commentary - ERDI (Education Research & Development Institute)

Well, knock me over with a
feather--or an aspen leaf, given
that the Education Research &
Development Institute is
meeting in Denver tomorrow
through Friday in a series of
"panels" interspersed with a
series of receptions and
dinners, hosted by, among
others, Headsprout, The NTI
Group, The Coca Cola
Company, Pearson Education,
Headsprout and The NTI Group
for a second round, and
Harcourt Assessment.

That we know any of this is the
cause for said feather-knocking
and likely the result of ERDI
founder Mike and Patty Kneale's
having sold ERDI last February
to long-time (ten years) ERDI
consultant Paul Dulle and his
wife Suzi. Under new
ownership, ERDI's returned to
listing their conference
schedules and client list--a
practice they discontinued
shortly after Scott Parks'
breakthrough piece in the
Dallas Morning News two years
ago this month.

A man and his edu-empire:
Paul Dulle, new ERDI owner

Any ERDI supes
in the news of late?
Well, let's see. Monte Moses,
2005 American Ass'n of School
Administrators supe of the
year--and little brother to former
Texas supe and fellow ERDI
consultant Mike Moses--was in
the news earlier this year
because an alert student, Sean
Allen, caught Moses' teacher
Jay Bennish mouthing off
political gibberish rather than
teaching geography, captured
for posterity on his MP3 in his
Cherry Creek, Colorado
classroom. And Arlene ("It's all
about the kids") Ackerman
insisted on then took her
$375,000 bailout money with
her when she left San
Francisco, heart not left behind.

Monte Moses (L), Mike Moses

Remember this photo (above) of then-Round Rock
ISD (TX) supe/ERDI consultant Tom Gaul loading up
his car outside the Hyatt Hill Country Resort at the
ERDI conference in Feb. 2005--the same weekend
he apparently also billed RRISD for a room at the
Marriott, where the AASA met? Six months ago
tomorrow I asked Tom about this apparent
double-billing and have not yet received a
response. NOTE: Tom is now employed as ass't
supe for teaching & learning at Baltimore County
PS--with fellow ERDI consultant, BCPS supe Joe
Hairston--in Maryland.

You remember ERDI
"Superintendents get $2,000
consulting fees to hobnob with
vendors," Scott Parks wrote two
years ago in the Dallas
Morning News of his trip to
Rancho Mirage to investigate
an ERDI conference. "In
addition to paying all expenses
for superintendents to attend
the conference, ERDI pays up
to $400 to defray the expenses
for a spouse, [ERDI founder
Mike Kneale] said. Each
superintendent gets a flat
$2,000 fee to attend. A 'full
participant' who attends both
summer and winter meetings
earns $4,000 a year in fees, he
said. "

ERDI
client roster
as of July 15, 2006

Advanced Academics, Inc
America's Choice
Assured Indoor Air Quality
Baragar Demographics
Class.com
Congnitive Concepts
Demco, Inc.
Dynamic Technology
Systems
Educational Resources /
Sunburst
Harcourt Achieve
Headsprout
Horace Mann
Johnson Controls
LeapFrog Schoolhouse
Lightspeed Technologies, Inc.
The McGraw-Hill Companies
National Training Network,
Inc.
NOVA Southeastern
University
PARS
Premier Agendas
Riverside Publishing
Company
Scantron
School District Online
Scientific Learning
Sodexho School Services
Thomson Gale
Vigilant Technologies, Inc.
Xerox Global Services

A+ Choice Solutions,
Inc.Apple Computer
(Powerschool)
Aramark
AXA Financial
Carson-Dellosa School
Divisione
The Coca-Cola Company
Curriculum Associates
Durham School
ServicesEdison Schools
Fourier Systems, Inc.
Harcourt Assessment
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
iLearn, Inc.
K12 Insight
Learning Together
Literacy First Process
The National Institute for
School Leadership (NISL)
Newton Learning/Edison
Schools
NTI Group
Pearson Achievement
Solutions
Project Seed, Inc.
The Safe Side
School Specialty
School Messenger
Socratic Learning
Strategic Listening Institute
TrueNorthLogic
Voyager Expanded
Learning, Inc.
Zaner-Bloser

And Jude Theriot
During the February 2005
ERDI conference at the Hyatt
Hill Country Resort in San
Antonio, then- Calcasieu
Parish (Louisiana) supe Jude
Theriot paused for this quick
shot at right before being
called elsewhere; he has
since resigned that position
and is now a consultant with
JBHM Education Group, LLC
out of Mississippi as their
Texas/urban state director,
which explains how he came
to be at the January TASA
Midwinter

ERDI consultant Jude Theriot
with his hand over his
heart--and his ERDI name
tag--at the Feb. 2005 ERDI
conference at the
Hyatt Hill Country Resort

Conference in Austin. "School
improvement begins when
focus is kept on what must be
done to increase student
achievement," reads their
statement on their website.
"JBHM Education Group can
build on that focus through
modeling, supporting,
assisting, and pushing school
leaders to implement
changes." Helpfully, "JBHM's
Gulf Coast office is now open
in Biloxi. After Hurricane
Katrina, our Gulf Coast clients
needed us more than ever."

Paul & Suzi Dulle buy
ERDI
Because ERDI is privately held,
there are no disclosure
statements available regarding
its earnings. In fact, under the
last few years of Mike and Patty
Kneale's ownership, ERDI was,
for being such a major
component of American public
education, largely shrouded in
secrecy. The February 2005
ERDI conference at San
Antonio's Hyatt Hill Country
Resort, for example, was on the
rolls at the hotel only as
"Education Conference"--no
names, no ERDI signage.

My query to Paul Dulle
(below) includes questions
about the new structure of ERDI
as there now appears to be a
fee for rooms at the Marriott
rather than free luxury rooms at
resorts.

Along with a a wondering-aloud
whether there's that much
money in not-for-profit work that
he was able to amass enough
to purchase ERDI, whether he
has outside partners and if so
who, was there something else
that made the purchase
possible. We'll never know
unless Paul Dulle produces the
paper records. Here's hoping
he will.

SOURCE:
www.ERDIUS.COM

Hmmm . . .

July 15, 2006--How can it
be that Joe Hairston's bio
(below) doesn't mention
his ERDI consulting
activities? Perhaps it's an
oversight; after all, there's
a lot listed here, and it
seems a pretty exhaustive
compilation, everything
from the Maryland
Instructional Computer
Coordinators Association
Outstanding Technology

Hyatt Hill Country Resort, San Antonio
Site of February 2005 ERDI conference

Paul Dulle, ERDI's CEO
and president, offers
the following
information on the ERDI
website:

Dr. Dulle is a former ERDI
consulting member who
participated in the work of the
Institute for 10 years and
served as the chair of the ERDI
Advisory Board in the early
1990’s.

Dr. Dulle left ERDI to become
President & CEO of United
Cerebral Palsy of Greater
Chicago, a position he has
held since 1993. Though
becoming CEO of a non-profit
health care organization, Dr.
Dulle never left education.

As President/CEO of UCP
of Greater Chicago, Dr.
Dulle and his team
developed an assistive
technology program
called Infinitec (Infinite
Potential Through
Technology) that serves
more than 1,600 schools in
Illinois and nearly 800 schools
in Kansas, and provides
technology support to more
than 1.5 million students.

Infinitec provides equipment,
training, information and
access to technology expertise
to benefit learners who require
assistive technology and
universal design support.
Infinitec also supports
teachers, related services
professionals, and families.

Dr. Dulle began his career in
1969 as a special education
teacher in St. Louis County and
has served in numerous
positions in education
including building principal,
regional supervisor of
educational programs,
associate superintendent, and
executive director of a Special
Education Cooperative in
Chicago’s southwest Cook
County suburbs.

He received his Doctoral
Degree from St. Louis
University and is affiliated with
Illinois State U. SEAT Advisory
Committee, Infinitec Southwest
(formerly Southwest
Cooperative Foundation),
United Cerebral Palsy (UCPA),
the RAMP UP Foundation,
Illinois Career Path Institute,
and Loyola University Chicago,
School of Education Advisory
Board.

Joe A. Hairston
Baltimore
County PS supe

JOE HAIRSTON'S BIOGRAPHY
For his achievements, Dr. Hairston has been
honored with dozens of local and national
recognitions, including an Outstanding
Leadership Award from the International
Society for Technology in Education, Top 10
Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award from
eSchool News, Education Technology Think
Tank Technology to Empower Community
(ET3 TEC) Champion Leadership Award,
Maryland Instructional Computer
Coordinators Association (MICCA)
Outstanding Technology Leader in Education
Award, 2005 Superintendent of the Year
Award from The Fullwood Foundation, 2006
Virginia Tech Graduate Alumni Achievement
Award, the Magnet School of America Award
from the U.S. Department of Education, the
Washington Post Outstanding Distinguished
Educational Leadership Award, the Maryland
State Department of Education Vanguard
Award, Prince George's County Police
Department Life Improvement Award, the
National Association for Equal Opportunity in
Higher Education's Distinguished Alumni
Award, the National Exemplary Secondary
School Award, the National Association of
School Directors Special Merit Award, the
Maryland Distinguished Leadership and
Innovative Educational Program Award from
the Maryland Association of Boards of
Education, and the Essex-Middle River-White
Marsh Chamber of Commerce 2002 Special
Recognition Award. Dr. Hairston participated
in the landmark Breaking the Mold study with
the National Association of Secondary
School Principals, and he has been
recognized by the White House, beginning
with President Reagan, and the U.S.
Department of Education for his educational
leadership

JULY 15, 2006--Query to Joe
Hairston:
Wondering why you don't mention your
career as an ERDI consultant on your official
bio--which appears to otherwise be a fairly
exhaustive compilation of your professional
activities. Do you keep the ERDI fees you
receive or do you give them away? And do
you charge your district for travel and other
expenses when you go to ERDI
conferences? I am eager to print your
response if and when it comes.

Like Rancho Mirage, the Hyatt Hill
Country Resort is a place apart from the
hustle and bustle of downtown life in busy
San Antonio where the other AASA
conference visitors stayed. But then, a
resort is meant to be just that, a place apart.

Tom Gaul locks and loads

OPEN QUERIES TO
SUPES/ERDI
CONSULTANTS (excerpts)

FEB. 2005 SAN ANTONIO AASA CONFERENCE
Carlos Garcia (far right, sitting), then-Las Vegas/Clark County,
Nevada supe and ERDI consultant, next McGraw-Hill vice president
of national urban markets and now-New Orleans Public Schools
supe. When I caught up with Carlos at the ERDI conference out at
the Hyatt Hill Country Resort in February 2005, Carlos declined to
comment on his presence at ERDI-- tantalizing in light of his
announcement just two months later re joining ERDI client
McGraw-Hill as an employee. Did Clark County taxpayers fund a
job interview for Carlos in San Antonio? Queries along these line
have, alas, elicited no responses to date.

Query to Tom Gaul
(BaltimorePS) (2nd)

JULY 15, 2006--Tom, have a couple of
questions for my book and website I'm
trying to clear up, hope you can help me.
I emailed you some questions six
months ago...and have not yet received a
response from you. There's also a copy
of the request here
www.peytonwolcott.com/Howtofileapublicrecordsrequest.ht
ml (under the photo of you loading up your
car on the right) and here
www.peytonwolcott.com/ERDI.html
Is there any reason you haven't
responded yet? I'm trying to put myself
in your shoes. Could it be perhaps that
you are you not in the habit of responding
to questions regarding how you spend
taxpayer dollars, could that be it? It could
well be that, while I do not know what it
might be, there is some perfectly
reasonable explanation for this. Also,
are you still an ERDI consultant? Will
you be attending the ERDI conference in
Denver this weekend? Thank you very
much, and wishing you all the best.

Open letter to new ERDI owner Paul Dulle

JULY 15, 2006--Paul, how much did you and Suzi pay Mike and
Patty Kneale for the purchase of ERDI?

Also, I don't know how to say this delicately: wondering how you
managed to amass enough money to purchase ERDI--are running
non-profits that profitable? What is your salary at UCP? And at
Infinitec? The salary in your UCP position, as a 501(c)3, would be
public information as would your position at Infinitec as another
501(c)3. Was there perhaps some way other than drawing a
straight salary that you earned any additional monies such as
through patents or other technologies from Infinitec and/or UCP?
Do you own ERDI 100% outright or do you have outside partners
and if so, who might they be?

Also, could you please send me a current list of all ERDI
consultants? The latest one I've seen is from 2004 and surely
some folks have come and gone by now. For instance, Arlene
Ackerman and Carlos Garcia are no longer working as public
school superintendents, so wondering if they're still on the list. And
is your financial arrangement still the same with your consultants
as when Mike owned ERDI, $2,000 per session plus free hotel
plus free meals, spouse included, plus $400 air fare allowance for
spouses? Or are you presenting this as a more traditional
education conference; notice you appear to be charging
participants rather than offering free rooms, and the rooms are at
the Marriott rather than a resort. Also, how much do vendors such
as Coca Cola and Nova Southeastern University pay you for the
privilege of meeting with superintendents? How do you structure
the services you sell?

Please understand that the American taxpayers who are, at the end
of the day, footing the bill for these conferences would like to know
how much money is changing hands at them.

NOTE: Any response received will be posted as soon
as possible upon receipt.

Query to Jude Theriot (JBHM)

JULY 14, 2006--Jude, we met Sunday,
Feb. 20, 2005 at the ERDI conference at
the Hyatt Hill Country Resort in San
Antonio; I took your photograph and we
talked briefly. Noticed you are no longer
working in Calcasieu but are instead
working for a Mississippi company doing
business in Texas schools, wondering
which districts you're working with
currently and the scope of your work. This
explains our bumping into each other at
the Texas Ass'n of School Administrators
Midwinter Conference in Austin this past
January. Also wondering whether JBHM
is an ERDI client and whether you
continue to work as an ERDI consultant.

Query to Leonard Merrell
(Katy ISD)

JULY 15, 2006--Leonard, wondering if
you are still employed as an ERDI
consultant and if you're going to the
Denver conference this week. Regarding
your attendance at previous ERDI
conferences (see Scott Parks' article in
the Dallas Morning News dated July 17,
2004), did you give away the money you
made from participating in the ERDI
conferences or did you keep it for
yourself? Do you see any ethics
problems with either or both participating
in the conferences and keeping the
money you were paid? I'm eager to
share your thoughts, comments and
point of view in this regard. By the way,
the questions from earlier this week
regarding your possible chiropractic
background remain unanswered, as do
the questions regarding your college
coursework.

Queries/Arlene Ackerman
(~SFUSD)

JANUARY 2, 2006--According to your "Five
Core Beliefs" posted on the San
Francisco Unified School district Website,
you state: "Children come first." You
further state, "These are not just words on
a page."   It's difficult to square these
statements by you with the $375,000 "be
nice" parachute you'll be leaving SFUSD
with when you depart for the East Coast.
Wondering how you can state that
"Children come first" and still insist on
taking $375,000 from those same
children's educations. Perhaps there is a
reasonable explanation, and if so, I am
eager to learn it. I have a further query
regarding your participation in ERDI as a
consultant:   In which ERDI conferences
have you participated? Did you attend the
Feb. 2005 ERDI conference in San
Antonio and if so did you stay at the Hyatt
Hill Country Resort? Will you be attending
the ERDI conference next month in San
Diego? Have you reported this
participation to the SFUSD board? Have
any SFUSD trustees inquired as to ERDI
or any other of your consultation activities?
What consulting have you done aside
from ERDI during your tenure at SFUSD?
How much money do you estimate you
have earned as an ERDI consultant
during your tenure at SFUSD? Finally, do
you feel your consulting for ERDI and
other clients has presented any conflicts
of interest in your role as SFUSD
superintendent?

ACKERMAN RESPONSE (JAN. 5,
2006): The “be nice” parachute you noted
is actually a contractual agreement
between me and the board. This
severance clause is standard practice in
superintendents’ contracts around the
state and country. Under California law,
should a Board agree to terminate a
superintendent’s contract (without cause)
who has more than 18 months left on his
or her contract (and I have three years left
on mine)….that superintendent is entitled
an 18 months severance. While this is
standard practice in this state and across
the country….many districts actually pay
the superintendent the entire amount left
on the unexpired contract. In addition, it is
standard practice that superintendents can
consult if they use vacation days. As far
ERDI, I was asked to join in 2003 and did
attend, I believe, 3 sessions. I have not
attended a meeting since February, 2004.
I did share my ERDI consulting with the
then President of the Board of Education
who had no problem with my participation
since I am not involved with the selection
of curriculum materials. I did, however, in
an effort to forego any hint of impropriety,
resign from ERDI in 2004....It is without
question that I would rather continue to
serve the students and families of San
Francisco in the manner that I have over
the past six years….but that is not
possible. Given that fact, I will collect the
severance and move East knowing that I
have left this district much better than I
found it for the children who attend our
schools….financially but most importantly,
academically.

JANUARY 6, 2006--$375,000 is an
extraordinary sum, far more than the
average most Americans spend on their
homes ($264,540), their largest single
investment over the course of their entire
lifetimes. This amount would make a
nice contribution to SFUSD's bank
balance. Many Americans wonder how in
good conscience you can justify keeping
such a large sum for simply leaving a job
which is after all concerned with the
education and betterment of children.
There's an old saying, "Just because you
can doesn't mean you should."
Regarding ERDI: ERDI clients are
engaged in much more than curriculum
materials. Also, did you keep the $6,000+
you earned or donate it to SFUSD?
Regarding consulting, you didn't mention
whether you have done any other
consulting such as Broad, etc.

JULY 15, 2006--No response received;
no email address for Ackerman since
leaving SFUSD.

Queries to Beverly Hall
(Atlanta PS)

MAY 17, 2006 and JULY 15, 2006--
1.    Please confirm or deny that Beverly
has ever attended any Education
Research & Development Institute
("ERDI") conferences. Based on a list of
ERDI consultants published by the Dallas
Morning News in July 2004, Beverly would
have served as an ERDI consultant
because it stands to reason that her
name would not have been published by
ERDI--the source of Scott Parks'
information--had she not attended at
least once. Where/when are the most
recent five ERDI conferences she
attended, and to which companies did
she speak at each of those?
2.    Please send me via email me the
names, dates and amounts received
(including goods and services received
including but not limited to hotel,
transportation and meals) from any and
all other non-ERDI side consulting by
Beverly during the 2004-2005 and
2005-2006 school years.
3.    Please send me via email a copy of
Beverly's current employment contract;
either text or PDF are fine, so long as I
have your complete assurance that it
reflects all side perqs received by Beverly
in the course of her employment by APS....
4.    The amount spent by APS taxpayers
on any and all fees associated with
attendance by any and all APS employees
at any and all NSPRA events, including
fees for consideration for awards, thus far
for the 2005-2006 school year. This
amount should include Georgia SPRA
events.
5. A complete current job description for
Joe Manguno, including any references in
such to the word or phrase "gatekeeper"
or "gate keeper" and the amount of his
salary for the current school year.
As I will be posting a commentary on this,
I would appreciate receiving this
information at your earliest opportunity via
email as that has proven to be the fastest
and most economical mode of
transmission. As a friendly heads up to
you both of the kind I appreciate receiving
myself, I will be posting any response
received from you including a
non-response, along with all or a portion
of the foregoing; additionally, this
information may be posted at some point
in another venue. On a personal note, I
am hoping in my heart of hearts that you
will volunteer this information without
making me go through the formality, delay
and expense of filing a public records
request as I will be sharing this
information with the American public on
my website. I am further hoping that you
will do so without involving attorneys as it
is not my intent to cause any expense to
the good taxpayers of Atlanta Public
Schools and the great State of Georgia.

How we take back our children's education:
one person, one question, one school at a time.

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ERDI 2004
winter and summer
participants
Education Research &
Development Institute documents
obtained by The Dallas Morning
News list the following school
leaders as participants in its 2004
winter and summer programs.

Arlene Ackerman,
San Francisco USD

Anthony Amato,
New Orleans
Public Schools

Brian Benzel, Spokane
(Wash.)
Public Schools

Ken Bird
Westside (Neb.)
Community Schools

Ed Brand,
Sweetwater Union (Calif.)
High School District

Ken Burnley,
Detroit Public Schools

Billy Cannaday Jr.,
Chesterfield County (Va.)
Public Schools

Rudy Castruita,
San Diego Office of
Education

Gerald Dawkins,
Saginaw (Mich.) City
Schools

Ken Dragseth,
Edina (Minn.) Public
Schools

Debra Duvall,
Mesa (Ariz.) School District

Jim Easton,
Lafayette Parish (La.)
Public Schools

Mark Edwards,
Henrico County (Va.)
Public Schools

Barbara Erwin,
Scottsdale (Ariz.) Unified

Greg Firn,
Milford (Conn.) Public
Schools

Steve Farrar,
Lincoln Unified
(Stockton, Calif.)

Mike Flanagan,
executive director,
Michigan Association of
School Administrators

Karen Forys,
Northshore (Wash.)
School District

Alton Frailey,
Cincinnati Public Schools

John Fryer,
Duval County (Fla.)
Public Schools

George Garcia,
Boulder Valley (Colo.)
Public School District

Carlos Garcia,
Clark County (Nev.) School
District

David Gordon,
Elk Grove (Calif.)
Unified School District

Peter Gorman,
Tustin (Calif.) Unified
School District

Carmen Granto,
Niagara Falls (N.Y.) City
School District

Terry Grier,
Guilford County
(N.C.) Schools

Annette Griffin,
Carrollton-Farmers
Branch ISD

Barb Grohe,
Kent (Wash.) Public
Schools

Bill Habermehl,
Orange County (Calif.)
Department of Education

Jim Hager,
Washoe County (Nev.)
School District

Joe Hairston,
Baltimore County
(Md.) Schools

Beverly Hall,
Atlanta Public Schools

Bill Harrison,
Cumberland (N.C.) County
Schools

Patricia Harvey,
St. Paul (Minn.)
Public Schools

Howard Hinesley,
Pinellas County (Fla.)
School District

Peter Horoschak,
South Orange-Maplewood
(N.J.)
School District

Sandy Husk, Clarksville-
Montgomery Schools

Carol Johnson,
Memphis Public Schools

John Kriekard,
Paradise Valley (Ariz.)
School District

Nadine Kujawa,
Aldine ISD

Michael Lannon,
St. Lucie (Fla.) County
Public Schools

Pam Lannon,
Lake County (Fla.) Schools

Mary Leiker, Kentwood
(Mich.)
Public Schools

Earl Lennard,
Hillsborough County (Fla.)
School District

Dave Long,
Riverside County (Calif.)
Office of Education

Ben Marlin,
Collier County (Fla.)
District School Board

Elfreda Massie,
District of Columbia Public
Schools (former interim)

Larry Maw,
San Marcos (Calif.) Unified
School District

Max McGee,
Wilmette (Ill.)
School District

Bill McKinney,
Region IV Education
Service Center (Houston)

Frank McKinzie,
Elmwood Park (Ill.) School
District

Gail McKinzie,
Indian Prairie (Ill.)
School District

Ray McMullen,
Department of Defense
Education Activity

Maggie Mejia,
Sacramento (Calif.) City
Unified School District

Leonard Merrell,
Katy ISD

Hector Montenegro,
Ysleta ISD

Mike Moses,
Dallas ISD

Monte Moses,
Cherry Creek (Colo.)
School District

Jim Murphy,
executive director,
New Jersey
Association of School
Administrators

Connie Neale,
School District U-46 (Ill.)

Ruben Olivarez,
San Antonio ISD

Doug Otto,
Plano ISD

Stan Paz,
Tucson (Ariz.) Unified
School District

Dennis Peterson,
Minnetonka (Minn.)
School District

Lane Plugge,
Iowa City Community
School District

Gerrita Postlewait,
Horry County (S.C.)
Schools

Jim Rickabaugh,
Whitefish Bay (Wis.)
School District

Stewart Roberson,
Hanover County (Va.)
Public Schools

Stan Scheer,
Littleton (Colo.)
Public Schools

Rick Schneider,
Pasadena ISD

Darlene Schottle,
School District Five (Mont.)

Althea Serrant,
U.S. Department of
Education, Region 2

John Simpson,
Norfolk (Va.)
Public Schools

Kevin Singer,
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
(recently left to lead
Manheim Township (Pa.)
School District)

Dennis Smith,
Placentia Yorba-Linda
(Calif.) Unified

Keith Sockwell,
Northwest ISD

Tony Stansberry,
Lee’s Summit (Mo.)
School District

Jim Surratt,
Klein ISD

John Thompson,
Pittsburgh (Pa.)
Public Schools

Frank Till,
Broward County (Fla.)
Public Schools

Doris Walker,
Clover Park (Wash.)
School District

Gene White,
Washington Township
(Ind.) Metropolitan
School District

Robert G. Witten,
Central Susquehanna
Intermediate Unit 16 (Pa.)

Alvin Wilbanks,
Gwinnett County (Ga.)
School District

Clayton Wilcox,
East Baton Rouge Parish
(La.) Public Schools

Joseph Wise,
Christina (Del.) School
District

SOURCE:
ERDI documents

(SOURCE: Scott Parks -
04.17.04 Dallas Morning News)

ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS:
Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you.

FROM ERDI WEBSITE:

How ERDI Works For You

ERDI exists to allow educational leaders the
opportunity to influence the development,
refinement and delivery of the products and
services entering the educational setting in the
USA so that those products and services can
best meet the needs of children. Because the
schools and districts that ERDI superintendents
lead are important consumers, ERDI gives them
a unique opportunity to comment on and shape
what goes into the schools they serve. No other
venue in this country offers leaders the chance to
help create and streamline the products that affect
the lives of the learners who will build a new
future for our world!

At an ERDI conference, corporate client
representatives receive a private 3-hour panel
discussion with five leading educators. The
agenda is determined by the corporate client and
can address any issue. The client garners
incredibly valuable information on those agenda
issues and topics. Panels of expert
superintendents provide frank, candid insight and
feedback that clients typically incorporate to
upgrade their products and services and to
modify their marketing plans.

ERDI is proud to work closely with
superintendents across the country. These
superintendents are seasoned, leading experts in
the field of K-12 education. These national
leaders are the men and women who serve on
ERDI panels.

To learn more about ERDI panels, please
complete and e-mail the “Contact Us” page.

1. What is a panel?
A panel is a three hour session where the
corporate client representatives receive candid
feedback on specific topics from five
superintendents from school districts across the
United States. All topics discussed are strictly
confidential. Potential new ERDI clients usually
attend one set of panels as observers (with the
approval of the host corporate client) which
enables them to learn how the process will
benefit their company. It also provides a
meaningful forum for potential client
representatives to talk with other business
members and superintendents. This experience
enables the potential client to make an informed
decision to become a corporate client of ERDI.

2. Who sets the
agenda for the panel?
The agenda is set by the client in consultation
with the superintendent chairing the panel. Thus,
the contact person from the corporate client and
their ERDI panel chairperson are the two key
agenda and process setters. The key to a
successful panel is careful planning and clearly
stated and understood expectations by both
parties.

3. What types of items should/could be
included in the pre-conference planning?1)
Selection of clearly articulated, focused topic(s)
for the panel such as a marketing plan for a
specific commodity or service.
ii) Identification and distribution of any materials to
be provided to the panel members prior to the
sessions.
iii) If desired, development and distribution of a
questionnaire to the ERDI panel members in
advance of the session. If the information
requested is required prior to the panel then the
questionnaire needs to be distributed, collected
and collated well in advance of the meeting of the
panel.
iv) Identification of any special facilities and/or
audio visual equipment required for the panel.
For example, the corporate client may want to
video tape the panel. The client is responsible for
all A/V costs and arrangements.
v) If desired, indication of specific panel
members desired by the corporate client. These
requests reflect regional or size of district desired
by the client. As the client gets to know the
superintendents better there is a tendency to
want to identify specific superintendents. These
requests are satisfied to the greatest extent
possible.
vi) Pre-determine whether the corporate client
will allow other companies to observe their
panel. Some topics may be too sensitive to
allow observers.

4. How do the panel members know
what the client expects
during the panel session?
With good communication and planning by the
corporate client and the panel chairperson, the
following information/activities further assists
panel members:
i) An agenda prepared in advance and circulated
to all participants.
ii) Distribution of materials to describe the client’s
company and the service or commodity to be
focused on during the panel.
iii) Distribution of a questionnaire, if this is part of
the process.

5. How does
a panel function?
i) To enable the corporate client to focus on the
content, not the process, the panel is chaired by
the ERDI consulting superintendent.
ii) The chairperson calls on the ERDI members
to introduce themselves and briefly describe their
school districts.
iii) The chairperson introduces any observer
companies present (observer companies are
present only with prior approval of the host
company).
iv) The chairperson and corporate client
introduces the agenda.
v) The chairperson leads the corporate client and
ERDI team through the agenda.
vi) Allowance is made for a break of 10 minutes
after approximately half way through the session.
vii) Time is built in for the chairperson or
corporate client to sum up the session, determine
any follow-up activities required and/or identify
and further steps to be followed.
viii) As appropriate, observers present are
provided an opportunity to comment.
ix) Wrap-up of the panel session is made by the
corporate client and the chairperson.

Scott Parks'
landmark
Dallas Morning
News article

Although since Mike Kneale sold ERDI (February 2006) its structure has changed dramatically, ERDI continues to be in the news. See new "ERDI in the News" feature below left.

HOME

California's Rancho Mirage resort,
site of 2004 ERDI conference

Leader in Education Award to Prince
George's County Police Department Life
Improvement Award:

NOTE: As you read
through this list, notice
how many of the
individuals named here
are working elsewhere --
4 short years later.

Privately owned
Educational Resource and Development Institute Inc., a privately owned company
in Grand Island, Neb., brings superintendents and company executives together
twice a year: a summer conference and a winter conference.

ERDI is the brainchild of Mike Kneale, a former superintendent and motivational
speaker. He founded the company 18 years ago and runs it with his son, Mike Jr.

"The whole concept was to create a forum where educators can learn from the
companies and vice versa," Mr. Kneale said. "We want to make products more
appropriate for the school setting."

ERDI literature lists 72 companies and more than 80 superintendents and other
school leaders on its participant rolls. Some of them attended last week's
conference. Another group will attend a second conference in Rancho Mirage this
week.

Because ERDI is not publicly traded, little information about its finances is
available. For example, Mr. Kneale declined to discuss how he structures the
fees he charges his client companies.

He said he makes deals with competing companies in a market segment – two
or three textbook publishers, for example – to blunt criticism that ERDI is working
for one company over another or that a superintendent might be working for one
company over another.
"No exclusive deals," Mr. Kneale said.

In addition to paying all expenses for superintendents to attend the conference,
ERDI pays up to $400 to defray the expenses for a spouse, Mr. Kneale said. Each
superintendent gets a flat $2,000 fee to attend. A "full participant" who attends
both summer and winter meetings earns $4,000 a year in fees, he said.

The corporate panels that form the backbone of ERDI operations ran Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday.

They worked this way: Company representatives spent three hours in a hotel
meeting room with five superintendents. Information revealed can be sensitive.
The companies sometimes roll out new ideas for products. What is said in the
room is supposed to stay in the room.
The companies set the agenda. They can request the superintendents they want
on their panel based on district size, geography or desire to gain more business
in a certain district.

Karen Mortensen, executive education consultant with Sagebrush Corp., said
membership in ERDI is well worth the fee. She said Sagebrush, which sells
software and school library products, pays $22,000 a year to attend two
conferences.

"What we get is dedicated time with key school leaders from across the country,"
she said. "And we get to mingle with them and other reps in social settings. It
would not be acceptable to be pushing product while I'm at ERDI. I would be
building relationships."

Ms. Massie, the Harcourt Achieve executive, was interim superintendent of public
schools in Washington, D.C., until April. She said, "We use the superintendents
like a focus group. It's a piece of our research-based approach to business."

The agenda for Ms. Massie's session included "What's Keeping You Up At Night,"
"Federal Legislation Update 2004" and "Partnering With Your District."

Carol Wolf, another Harcourt Achieve vice president, initiated a conversation with
the superintendents on an issue not on the agenda. How, she asked, does a
sales rep determine whom to contact first in a district? All bureaucracies are
different, and superintendents in large districts are notorious for not taking most
vendor phone calls.
"How do you figure out who are the decision-makers?" Ms. Wolf asked.

"In my job, I never purchase anything," said Carlos Garcia, superintendent of the
8,000-square-mile Clark County School District in Las Vegas. "But when you're a
superintendent in a small district, you do it all."

'No play at all'
Superintendents might participate in four or five corporate panels during the three-
day conference, which would mean 12 to 15 hours of work.

"There is no play at all," Mr. Kneale said.

Dr. Otto of Plano and Dr. Griffin of Carrollton-Farmers Branch both said they took
vacation time for the Rancho Mirage conference, which opened last Sunday with
a "superintendents only" meeting, followed by an evening reception with live
orchestra music.

The fact that ERDI pays the superintendents' expenses and consulting fees –
and that the money doesn't come directly from school district vendors – is an
important distinction, said Drs. Otto and Griffin.
"ERDI assigns us to the corporate panels, and we have no say in what company
we are meeting with," Dr. Otto said.

But the distinction is lost on some business ethicists.

"The superintendents must be careful that ERDI is not just acting as a shield for
companies that want access to them," said Dr. W. Michael Hoffman, executive
director of the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass.
"Ultimately, they are serving the companies that are paying the guy to put on the
conferences."

Oversight
Business ethicists say school board oversight is critical to keeping school
superintendents within safe boundaries.

No one knows how much superintendents tell their trustees about their after-
hours consulting activities or how many questions trustees ask about them.

Dr. James Campbell Quick, of the University of Texas at Arlington, likens
superintendents to tennis players and school board members to umpires.

"Everyone needs someone to make their line calls," he said. "Aggressive,
healthy players will get close to the line and need help remembering where the
boundaries are. The board's responsibility is to ask enough questions to
determine what game the superintendent is playing."

The News interviewed Mr. Tepper, the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school board
president, and Mary Beth King, president of the board in Plano, about their
superintendents' participation in ERDI.

Ms. King and Mr. Tepper said they do not know how much ERDI pays their
superintendents or how the fees are calculated.
"Quite frankly, we don't ask," Mr. Tepper said.

Both school board presidents said they feel well briefed about ERDI and
understand its program. They expressed confidence in their superintendents and
said they had no reason to believe personal relationships with ERDI companies
influence decision-making on contract awards.

"I know my superintendent [Dr. Otto] and I know his ethics," Ms. King said. "I do
not perceive this as a problem."

Mr. Tepper agreed. "I don't think there is a conflict of interest or the appearance of
one and that is because she [Dr. Griffin] has been very forthright with us about the
ERDI situation," he said.

"I don't think Dr. Griffin can be bought for what they [ERDI] are paying."

Superintendents get
$2,000 consulting fees
to hobnob with vendors
11:52 PM CDT on Saturday, July 17, 2004
By SCOTT PARKS
The Dallas Morning News
One in an occasional series.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – The
Resort, perched on a sandy
hillside and surrounded by
purple-hued mountains, sat
baking under the desert sun last
week.

Inside the luxury hotel on Frank
Sinatra Drive, school
superintendents from across the
United States – including the
Dallas-Fort Worth area – spent
three days talking business with
companies that want to sell their
wares to school districts.

Textbook publishers, food-
service vendors, computer
manufacturers and many other
companies all want to increase
their share of the lucrative
educational market. The school
superintendents came to
California's desert to help them.

In return, the superintendents got
an all-expenses-paid trip and a
$2,000 consulting fee.

Business ethicists say the
conference creates the
appearance that companies and
superintendents have formed an
exclusive club with the potential
to affect the contracts awarded by
districts.

"I find it troubling that money from
the private sector is finding its
way into superintendents'
pockets," said Diane Swanson, a
business professor and founding
chair of the Ethics Initiative at
Kansas State University. "There
is something wrong with blurring
that boundary with a cozy group of
people who may not be operating
at arm's length."

The superintendents, dressed in
colorful casual attire, arrived here
from small districts (Whitefish
Bay, Wis., with 3,000 students)
and large (Clark County Schools
in Las Vegas with about 280,000
students). They characterize
themselves as tough-minded
professionals who feel no
obligation to buy from the
companies that paid to bring
them to this Palm-studded oasis.

"If a company comes here to sell,
it's here for the wrong reasons,"
said Doug Otto, superintendent
of the Plano Independent School
District. "If it's a good product, it
stands on its own."

Annette Griffin, superintendent of
Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD,
said interacting with company
executives gives her a chance to
stay on the cutting edge of
product developments that help
students learn. She said she
donates some of the money she
earns to a scholarship fund.
"I'm looking for the magic bullet,"
Dr. Griffin said during a brief
interview in a meeting-room
lobby overlooking the hotel pool.

"This is the only organization I've
found where companies come to
us with new ideas and we have
the opportunity to say how they
can be structured to better serve
children. We are not here to
make the vendors feel good. We
are brutally honest with them."

Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike
Moses didn't travel to Rancho
Mirage, but he was listed among
the participants in last winter's
conference in Oakland, Calif. So
was his brother, Monte Moses,
superintendent of Colorado's
Cherry Creek School District.

Dr. Moses, who resigned his job
with the Dallas school district last
week, was unavailable for
comment on his consulting work.
In some states, the law requires
superintendents to disclose their
sources of income on publicly
available questionnaires. Texas
does not require financial
disclosure for superintendents.

The Dallas Morning News has
examined employment contracts
for superintendents in 26 of the
largest school districts in Texas.
Twenty of them, including the
contracts of Drs. Otto and Moses,
contain language that allows
outside employment. Dr. Griffin's
contract also allows her to take
outside employment, said John
Tepper, president of the
Carrollton-Farmers Branch
school board.

Some contracts require
superintendents to get school
board approval before accepting
consultancies. Others say the
outside work cannot interfere with
the superintendent's official
duties.

Pots of money
Big dollars are at stake.
Most people view school districts
as places that educate children.
But they also can be viewed as
big pots of taxpayer money with
plenty of companies trying to get
their share. The annual operating
budget for Dallas ISD is $1 billion.

The U.S. Department of
Education says the combined
budgets for public school
districts exceed $500 billion a
year. Wal-Mart, the world's
biggest retailer, is less than half
that size. The gross domestic
product of Argentina is less than
$500 billion.

A big chunk of a school district's
budget goes for teacher and staff
salaries. But another big chunk
also goes for a multitude of
contracts with private companies.

Elfreda Massie, vice president of
strategic relationships for
Harcourt Achieve in Austin, came
to The Resort to talk about her
company's instructional
materials and professional
development programs for
teachers. During one meeting,
she told superintendents, "We
are trying to take the market for
products and services for
English-language learners."

ERDI ALERT! GRAB YOUR WALLETS!
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION'S FOR
SALE, SALE, SALE!
By Peyton Wolcott - July 15, 2006/4:06 a.m.

ARLENE ACKERMAN insisted on
a $375,000 be friendly clause in
her San Francisco USD
employment contract, then
insisted on her trustees' paying it
to her -- after footing her $45,000
(for one year) Diners Club tab --
as part of her exit. Deeply tied to
Eli Broad, Arlene has landed in
Philadelphia.

07.18.08: Arlington ISD (TX)
superintendent Hector
Montenegro was placed on paid
leave following scrutiny by his
board and their lawyers re
honorariums including his $2,000
ERDI consulting fee plus credit
card and other expenses; as part
of leave-taking Hector has
surrendered his district credit
card. He has since left the district.

KEN BURNLEY: Detroit PS
trustees: Where's $1.6 mil in art
he and William Coleman bought
from Sherry Washington Gallery;
is it lost? DPS is as of Fall 2008
$408 million in the hole and they
can't provide an inventory of the art.
09.21.08 UPDATE: I'm emailing
Ken this morning to ask him if he
recalls the names and/or
locations of any of the art he
bought. 12.21.08 UPDATE: Ken
has not responded to telephone
calls or emails.

ERDI supes in the news

Two ERDI-tied execs' exits were
announced the same week in
July 2008: Billy C annady (VA
DOE); Hector Montenegro (TX)
from Arlington ISD.

(L to R) Ackerman, Burnley, Cannady

GEORGE GARCIA: Retired as
Boulder schools supe after
high school sex'n'drugs panel
led to Bill O'Reilly (Fox News)
reporter on his doorstep.

BILL HARRISON: Cumberland
schools foundation executive
claims her boss the supe's ERDI
award is proof of his leadership
ability.

CAROL JOHNSON: Memphis
schools scandal follows her to
Boston -- along with FBI?

HECTOR MONTENEGRO:
Arlington asks HOPE for info,
wants $240,000 back; hats off to
the AISD board! Dallas News
says new law was Hector's
undoing:

All that plane-hopping might have
flown with his school board had
he not run afoul of a new, tougher
state law that forbids
superintendents to take money –
including speaking fees – from
groups and companies that do
business with their districts.

Montenegro (far left) at Texas Ass'n of
Latino Administrators & Superintendents
receiption in his honor - January 2008

CONNIE NEALE's Elgin, Illinois
"rich" pay, $100,000 more annually
than comps ....community outrage
over $750,000 buyout; look at
timeline re her unnamed 'illness,'
negotiations, timing of her
Missouri house purchase.

(L to R) Neale, Wise

JOSEPH WISE: Edu -h opskotch
up and down the East Cost, from
Disney to Christina in Delaware to
Duval in Florida to edu-vendor
Edison Schools in Feb. 2008.

(L to R) Frailey, Garcia, Harrison, Johnson

Katy ISD supe Alton Frailey
attempted to limit parents' and
taxpayers' access to public
records by putting an item on his
board's June 23, 2008: agenda
requiring Texas Public Information
Act information-seekers to state
why they are seeking records.
(More below)

What was Alton
Frailey thinking?
By Peyton Wolcott
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 3:52 p.m.

(L to R) Alton Frailey, GE's Jeff Immelt
(PHOTO--Gary Landers/Cincinnati Enquirer)

What could have been going
through this veteran respected
Katy ISD superintendent's mind
when he included limiting his
community's access to information
regarding how he's spending their
tax dollars and educating their
schoolchildren on the agenda for
last night's board meeting?
Surprising that he'd consider
this, given that they made such
strides last year by voluntarily
posting the district's check register
online, but here's the agenda item:

AGENDA - REGULAR BOARD MEETING
KATY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT /
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
EDUCATION SUPPORT COMPLEX
BOARD ROOM/6301 SOUTH STADIUM
LANE, KATY, TEXAS - Mon., June 23, 2008
IX. Action - 2. Consider Board approval of
the Texas Association of School Boards
(TASB) Advocacy Resolutions.

Oh, you don't see the reported 18
TASB resolutions on Katy ISD's
board agenda above? Oops!
Neither could I. Somehow they
weren't included in the agenda
supplied to the public. Look for
yourself here (scroll down to
"Regular Meeting" on the right,
then "June 23, 2008"). Well, we
can all be thankful that Helen
Eriksen and Jennifer Ratcliffe were
on hand to tell us about it in this
morning's Houston Chronicle.

The Katy school board on Monday backed off
a plan to propose a law requiring those who
want access to public records to first explain
why the information's release would benefit the
community.
    Katy officials say they're trying to stymie a
flood of what they consider frivolous requests
for open records. To that end, the school board
intended to ask the Texas Association of
School Boards to push for a new law to make
information requestors justify themselves.
    But they canceled the vote just a few
hours before the meeting because
administrators said they don't want school
board members to be criticized as being
anti-open government.
    "I don't want our board to be conflicted and
misconstrued and misrepresented as trying to
thwart public information," superintendent Alton
Frailey said. "I don't want this on the backs of
the Katy board alone. I'm not wanting to
carry the water, but I have put the bucket
in the well."
    A draft of Katy's proposed resolution
reads: "There is a growing trend where private
citizens use provisions of this act to retaliate,
harass and hold hostage the public school
district when there clearly is no public interest
being served."
    In May, Frailey told the school board that
Katy was being terrorized by [493] public
information requests.

Owning up to it here
Friends, at least one of those 493
requests may have been
considered by Alton to have been
from me.

Let's back up.

Even though I don't live in Katy ISD,
according to TEA's most recent
PEIMS actual financials for KISD,
the district received $17.4 million in
federal funds for the most recently
reported period, and as a federal
taxpayer this gives me a lively
interest in where Alton was on
Friday afternoon, April 18 -- the first
day of the TAS/MUS spring
conference at Horseshoe Bay
Resort.

Texas supes golfing with vendors at Horse-
shoe Bay Resort on Friday, April 18, 2008

Given that Alton is a TAS/MUS
director, it seemed likely that he
might have been golfing with the
other administrators and vendors
on some of Texas' finest links. But
was he doing so -- if he was doing
so -- at taxpayer expense? Sorry,
Alton and his PR staff have not yet
answered phone and email
queries so you'll have to file a
public records request to find out.

Here's a friendly idea. Make it
easier for them: Mark your request
"Public Information Request #494."

In the meantime, our friends in
print didn't speak out very loudly
last year when TASA/TASB made
newspapers exempt from the
onerous fees HB 2564 imposed
on parents and taxpayers for
public records. Here's hoping this
new move by TASA/TASB will
encourage the press association
to speak up during this next Lege.

Alton Frailey's predecessor at Katy ISD --
fellow ERDI consultant and then-KISD supe
Leonard Merrell -- with going-away gift,
a tractor, useful for his private subdivision
in Waller ISD, another district.

(PHOTO--Houston Chronicle)