In August 2017, Laurie Kash was hired by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as its director of special education.
Her immediate supervisor was Justin Porter, who was then the executive director of special populations. (One year later, in August 2018, Porter assumed Kash’s job, which sat vacant for nine months following Kash’s firing in November 2017).
On the day after Kash filed a complaint with the US Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) against TEA, Kash was fired (date of complaint: November 21, 2017; Kash’s firing: November 22, 2017).
Kash’s complaint (see above) concerned a no-bid contract for special education services by a then-newly-created vendor, SPEDx, whose founder, Richard Nyankori, had a personal connection to Porter’s immediate supervisor, Penny Schwinn, TEA’s chief deputy commissioner of academics.
So, right off the bat, this situation became dicey for Kash, for she was concerned about impropriety related to her supervisor’s supervisor. Kash alerted Porter of her concerns, and she spoke about those concerns with a Texas parent group, Texans for Special Education reform (TxSER). Porter did not like this, and Schwinn found out and approached Porter about Kash’s verbalizing her concerns.
On November 03, 2017, Porter formally reprimanded Kash for not reporting her concerns “through appropriate channels,” and Schwinn verbally reprimanded CONTINUE READING: Texas: SPEDx Whistleblower Laurie Kash Was Right, and She’s Been Paying for It Ever Since. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog