An education vendor has asked City Comptroller Brad Lander to investigate whether bidding rules were circumvented in the Department of Education’s purchase of a controversial “Illustrative Math” curriculum.
“It appears that DOE did not follow any procurement process before selecting Illustrative Mathematics for $34 million”. “NYC Solves” initiativewrites Sean Mulcahy, senior vice president of New Jersey-based Savas Learning Co., in a Nov. 26 letter obtained by The Post.
“While many course companies typically have the opportunity to submit proposals, DOE appears to have selected Exemplary Mathematics without any competitive bidding or procurement process,” the letter from the competitor said. Reported by Politico.
Lander declined to comment, but officials told The Post that his office has no record of any current or potential contracts for Illustrative Math, which is published by Imagine Learning.
Mayor Adams and then-Chancellor David Banks announced the launch of NYC Solves in June to address lagging math scores, which was falling behind half of students in grades 3-8. Not efficient in 2023,
The initiative began with conducting illustrative mathematics for algebra in 265 high schools, but many hate teachers Tightly written lesson plans, rigid schedules, and the requirement that students work in groups to “discover” and solve math problems with little teacher input.
despite this citywide decline On this year’s Algebra 1 Regents exam, the DOE mandated the use of Illustrative Math in all but six of the 420 high schools.
In a statement Saturday, the DOE said it “has complied with all procurement policies and procedures,” and that it evaluated Savva among the companies that responded to a public “request for information” on the mathematics curriculum.
The DOE did not cite any competitive bids for the algebra course.
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