State Records: TEEM Pre-K Curriculum Costs Three Times More than Others

Critics say staff getting kickbacks

AUSTIN - A program that's supposed to help Texas children from low-income families prepare for school has cost taxpayers more than three times the typical pre-kindergarten curriculum. Critics say the Texas Early Education Model, or TEEM, approach is being used to sell research and products through commercial vendors.

State records show the program's developers received about half a million dollars in royalties from book publishers and vendors. Jay Spuck, a retired Houston-area school administrator, former classroom teacher, and education advocate, says "This pre-school scheme is not about preparing these little ones to be ready for school. It's about advancing a political agenda of implanting corporate interests into nursery schools. It's all about trademarks, copyrights, patents, contracts, royalties, power and greed. The goal is to privatize education, cradle to college."