$694,000 U of L grant is subject of federal investigation
By Nancy C. Rodriguez
Louisville Courier-Journal
July 10, 2008
A $694,000 project grant managed by former University of Louisville education dean Robert Felner is part of a criminal investigation into whether federal funds were mishandled.
Documents obtained from U of L in an open-records request show that the grant's purpose was to create a center that would be a "unique collaborative effort" with the Kentucky Education Department and Jefferson County Public Schools, among others, and would help schools meet testing goals of the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Yet no one with the Jefferson County Public Schools or the state Education Department know about the grant, or that such a center was created, according to interviews with state and district officials.
Federal agents seized documents related to the grant and other records from Belknap Campus on June 20, and federal prosecutors said publicly at the time that a criminal investigation was under way.
The records obtained by the newspaper do not include any of the seized documents, the university said. But they do show that $598,000 of the grant has been spent, and that much of that money went to either programs or people with whom Felner had once had close ties.
Neither Felner nor his attorney, Scott C. Cox, would comment on the investigation or the grant this week.
Cox has previously said that Felner is at the center of the investigation after university officials became concerned that about $500,000 in federal grant money might have been mishandled. He said Felner denies any wrongdoing and is cooperating with investigators.
But several people and groups that documents indicate should have known of the grant told The Courier-Journal they were not aware of it -- or of the center it funded.
Former Kentucky Education Secretary Virginia Fox, identified in documents as chairwomen of an interagency advisory committee that was suppose to develop polices for the center, said she had "never heard of it."
"I was never told I was on a committee, nor did I chair a committee," she said in an interview.
And Robert Rodosky, the Jefferson County schools' director of accountability, research and assessment, said he met regularly with Felner but "we never talked about this. I do not know what this thing is."
Lisa Gross, spokeswomen for the state Department of Education, said she checked with several staffers, and "it doesn't ring a bell with anyone."
Felner's last official day at U of L was June 30. He was suppose to become chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside this month, but backed out of the job in June after the federal investigation became public.
Federal investigators also have visited that campus twice in June, and seized several boxes of papers and books Felner had moved to that campus in anticipation of taking the new job, university officials said.
David Giroux, a university system spokesman, said many of the documents have been returned, and the university is awaiting permission from the investigators to return the material to Felner.
The grant
The money for the grant came through an earmark secured by then U.S. Rep. Anne Northup, R-Louisville, in the 2005 federal budget.
In an interview, Northup said she sought the earmark because she was aware that the government was interested in research on testing practices, specifically how to get the most valid results that could be applied to boosting student academic achievement. Through talks with U of L, Northup said she knew officials were interested in pursuing that kind of research.
Northup said she learned about the investigation involving the grant in late June from university officials.
"If there is any misuse of federal grant money, I am certain the federal investigation will expose it," Northup said.
Once the money was secured, Felner was asked to submit an application for the grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement, a department official confirmed to the newspaper. The newspaper also obtained the grant application, which Felner wrote.
The grant's purpose was to create the Center for Research-Based Educational Improvement and Assessment: Support and Continuous Improvement of No Child Left Behind in Kentucky, also known as the "NCLB Center."
The grant money was paid out to the U of L Research Foundation and Felner was listed as the project manager.
The center, which was run out of the College of Education and Human Development, had no office or dedicated staff. Felner ran the center, and documents indicate that other professors and staff at the college were expected to participate. But it couldn't be determined whether they had.
Documents indicate Felner was paid $36,871 for his work with the center between Jan. 1, 2007, to June 30, 2007. He donated his time at the center after that period, according to the documents.
The grant runs out July 31. Felner is no longer in charge of the grant, which the university has taken over, according to university officials.
University expense reports show that as of June 26, $598,081 of the grant has been spent.
The grant was also used to pay for a number of other expenses, including a graduate student stipend, out-of-state travel and lodging and equipment.
The contracts
The largest portion of that money -- $452,533 -- was paid to subcontracted groups, many of whom had ties to Felner.
That included $52,534 paid to the University of Rhode Island's National Center on Public Education and Social Policy. Felner, who worked at the university from 1997 to 2003, was the center's director until 2006.
A University of Rhode Island spokesman confirmed the center entered into two contracts with U of L's NCLB Center -- for a maximum of $60,000 each -- to analyze data for research and publication related to the grant.
David Lavallee said the university had not received payment for the second contract. He said he did not know what data the university analyzed, or which schools or states the data came from.
Federal investigators have visited University of Rhode Island twice -- in June and last week -- as part of the investigation, Lavallee said. He would not say where on campus they focused their visit or if they seized any documents.
Felner also hired another subcontractor -- the National Center on Public Education and Prevention in Rock Island, Ill. -- agreeing to a $200,000 contract to have the Rock Island agency "administer and score surveys taken by students, teachers, parents and other school personnel."
Thomas Schroeder, who is listed on the contract as the center's executive director, did not return repeated calls made to the number the contract lists as the center's office.
The same number is listed for the Rock Island County Council on Addiction, which provides residential and outpatient addition treatment. Schroeder is the executive director.
Felner's resume shows that he and Schroeder worked together while Felner was a psychology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on a substance abuse and prevention study between 1990-94. The study was funded with a $1.4 million federal grant from the U.S. Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration.
Although the NCLB grant runs out at the end of this month, neither the Kentucky Department of Education nor Jefferson County Public Schools has seen any data or surveys from the U of L's NCLB center pertaining Kentucky schools.
The grant's application says that the university will evaluate the work of the center at the conclusion of the grant. University official said this week they have not found any records of any evaluation of the center, and do not believe they are in possession of any such records.
Rodosky, who has overseen assessment for the Jefferson County School District since 1983, said the district has an understanding with researchers that when they use any of its schools for studies or research "they will share findings with us, and that they would give us an opportunity to respond."
That hasn't happened, he said. "I would have been familiar with them."
Reporter Nancy Rodriguez can be reached at (502) 582-7079.
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