Va. education chief's foreign trips defended

Virginia education officials on Monday defended overseas trips taken by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright that are linked to the company that is the main vendor for the Standards of Learning testing program.

The overseas conferences sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers' international program are underwritten, in part, by the Pearson Foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of education giant Pearson.

Wright, who serves on the council's board of directors, has attended the council's conferences held in London, Portugal, Finland and Brazil. Virginia Department of Education spokesman Charles B. Pyle said the trips were funded completely by the council and the trips were approved by the state secretary of education.

A council spokeswoman said the organization's international program, which has been sponsoring opportunities for education chiefs to visit other education systems and hosting other nations in the U.S. since 1984, is supported by many organizations, including the Pearson Foundation.

"CCSSO sponsors these meetings so state education leaders can explore international methods and policies with an eye to how these best practices can improve student achievement in the United States," said Kate Dando, director of communications with the Council of Chief State School Officers.

The organization recently partnered with the Asia Society to sponsor a conference in China and has an exchange program supported by the Japanese government for school chiefs to visit Japanese education officials, schools and teachers.

The Virginia Department of Education paid a $60,000 membership fee in fiscal 2012 to the Council of Chief State School Officers.

"The CCSSO conferences provide an opportunity for American education policymakers to meet with their international counterparts," Wright said in a statement released Monday. "The importance of these opportunities has increased with the growing focus on the international benchmarking of standards and the recognition that our students must be able to compete in today's global economy."

Pearson has three contracts with the state Education Department — nearly $110 million for the SOL testing contract over three years, $3.2 million for the development and maintenance of the Virginia Student Longitudinal Data System, and for lead turnaround partner services, which has no cost to the department.

The testing cost can vary depending on the number of tests taken each year, Pyle said.

Florida Virtual School, which formed a private-public partnership with Pearson last year, was one of 13 virtual-school programs approved by the Education Department this year.

In the spring the department dropped Pearson as the vendor for reading assessments used in the licensure of elementary teachers, reading specialists and special-education teachers. These assessments are now provided by Education Testing Service.

"We trust that the department bases all contract decisions solely on what is best for Virginia's students, teachers, parents and taxpayers," said Tucker Martin, spokesman for Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Local school districts and school boards can choose to enter a contract with Florida Virtual School or Pearson K-12 Solutions — the turnaround partner — for services.

Pyle said Wright was not part of the procurement process that led to Pearson's selection to offer educational services to Virginia schoolchildren.

According to the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act, officers and employees of state or local government or an advisory agency are prohibited from accepting any money, loan, gift, favor, service, or business or professional opportunity that reasonably tends to influence them in the performance of official duties.

They are also prohibited from accepting any business or professional opportunity that has a reasonable likelihood that the opportunity may influence the performance of their duties, the act says.

Pyle said Wright does not believe going on these overseas conferences represents a conflict of interest.

"Virginia is known internationally for its successful reform efforts — but there is much Virginia and other states can learn from other countries," she said in the statement. "As a member of CCSSO's board of directors, I am part of this international conversation about raising achievement and standards."

Then-Gov. Timothy M. Kaine appointed Wright in 2008 to succeed Billy K. Cannaday Jr. when he left to become a dean at the University of Virginia, and McDonnell has kept her in that post. Cannaday now serves on the Virginia Board of Education.

Since starting at the Department of Education in 1985, Wright has moved from math supervisor to working with early-childhood education to chief deputy superintendent and then to the top job. She helped to implement the state's Standards of Learning.

This month, Wright will travel to Moscow to attend the Russian International Space Olympics competition with six Virginia high school students. All expenses will be paid through a grant from the Verizon Foundation.