Pearson, Junkets, and Ethics

The Gazette:  Complaint alleges Iowa education chief violated ethics law

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Palo man has filed a complaint alleging that the director of the Iowa Department of Education violated state law by accepting a trip to a conference in Rio de Janeiro.

Richard Fredericks filed a formal complaint with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board alleging that Jason Glass violated state campaign finance, executive branch ethics and lobbying laws or administrative rules.

Glass attended the International Education Initiative in Rio de Janeiro earlier this month. His participation in the all-expense-paid conference was appropriate, Glass said, because it was paid for by the Council of Chief State School Officers, which had received a grant from the Pearson Foundation.

Questions have been raised because the foundation is associated with Pearson, a corporation that has contracts with the state of Iowa for about $4.8 million.

“The fact the organization paying for his trip either does state business directly, or does it indirectly is more than sufficient evidence for filing this ethics complaint,” according to Iowalive, which raised the ethics issue. Fredericks is a member of the group that bill itself as “a growing network of volunteer citizens and professionals for improving Iowa.”...