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OT: MS Department of Ed money grab

horshack.sixpack

horshack.sixpack

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Oct 30, 2012
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Any of you paying attention to the teacher uproar over their classroom funds? Cliff notes:

  • Every year teachers get a prepaid card to use to buy necessary school supplies
  • They do have to turn in receipts proving that they bought classroom stuff
  • In past years that was it; teachers might buy from Walmart or SchoolAids in Ridgeland, Amazon, Teacherspayteachers, etc.
  • This year the Department of Ed has decided to sign a 3yr contract with a company that has "approved vendors" only
  • None of those "approved vendors" are local (i.e. School Aids in Ridgeland may go out of business)
  • Many of the places that teachers get teaching material or software are not approved
  • Department of Ed gets a percentage kickback from this new company
Pretty crappy stuff and they apparently are locked into this contract for 3yrs. I don't sign any contracts longer than 1 yr for any new vendor in my business because they might suck and I'll be stuck with them. Greed and stupidity at the Department of Ed continue to abound...
 
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dorndawg

dorndawg

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Sep 10, 2012
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The amount of 17-ery that is currently going on in Education is astounding. Turns out, profit motive may not be good for *everything*.
 
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jethreauxdawg

jethreauxdawg

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Dec 20, 2010
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horshack.sixpack said:
Any of you paying attention to the teacher uproar over their classroom funds? Cliff notes:

  • Every year teachers get a prepaid card to use to buy necessary school supplies
  • They do have to turn in receipts proving that they bought classroom stuff
  • In past years that was it; teachers might buy from Walmart or SchoolAids in Ridgeland, Amazon, Teacherspayteachers, etc.
  • This year the Department of Ed has decided to sign a 3yr contract with a company that has "approved vendors" only
  • None of those "approved vendors" are local (i.e. School Aids in Ridgeland may go out of business)
  • Many of the places that teachers get teaching material or software are not approved
  • Department of Ed gets a percentage kickback from this new company
Pretty crappy stuff and they apparently are locked into this contract for 3yrs. I don't sign any contracts longer than 1 yr for any new vendor in my business because they might suck and I'll be stuck with them. Greed and stupidity at the Department of Ed continue to abound...
Click to expand...
Well, but you’re probably using your own money to pay contracts so you aren’t worried about kickbacks. Do you even know how to spend other people’s money?
 
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Villagedawg

Villagedawg

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Hugh's Burner Phone said:
Also wonder how much more expensive things are with this contracted vendor since there's
Click to expand...

horshack.sixpack said:
Any of you paying attention to the teacher uproar over their classroom funds? Cliff notes:

  • Every year teachers get a prepaid card to use to buy necessary school supplies
  • They do have to turn in receipts proving that they bought classroom stuff
  • In past years that was it; teachers might buy from Walmart or SchoolAids in Ridgeland, Amazon, Teacherspayteachers, etc.
  • This year the Department of Ed has decided to sign a 3yr contract with a company that has "approved vendors" only
  • None of those "approved vendors" are local (i.e. School Aids in Ridgeland may go out of business)
  • Many of the places that teachers get teaching material or software are not approved
  • Department of Ed gets a percentage kickback from this new company
Pretty crappy stuff and they apparently are locked into this contract for 3yrs. I don't sign any contracts longer than 1 yr for any new vendor in my business because they might suck and I'll be stuck with them. Greed and stupidity at the Department of Ed continue to abound...
Click to expand...
Also not sure if it’s compliant with the law. Law says for teachers to spend as they see fit for their classrooms. Limiting where they can purchase is not as they see fit.
 
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Villagedawg

Villagedawg

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Nov 16, 2005
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horshack.sixpack said:
Any of you paying attention to the teacher uproar over their classroom funds? Cliff notes:

  • Every year teachers get a prepaid card to use to buy necessary school supplies
  • They do have to turn in receipts proving that they bought classroom stuff
  • In past years that was it; teachers might buy from Walmart or SchoolAids in Ridgeland, Amazon, Teacherspayteachers, etc.
  • This year the Department of Ed has decided to sign a 3yr contract with a company that has "approved vendors" only
  • None of those "approved vendors" are local (i.e. School Aids in Ridgeland may go out of business)
  • Many of the places that teachers get teaching material or software are not approved
  • Department of Ed gets a percentage kickback from this new company
Pretty crappy stuff and they apparently are locked into this contract for 3yrs. I don't sign any contracts longer than 1 yr for any new vendor in my business because they might suck and I'll be stuck with them. Greed and stupidity at the Department of Ed continue to abound...
Click to expand...
Next they’ll pay with company scrip to be used only at the company store.
 
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R

RocketDawg

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horshack.sixpack said:
Any of you paying attention to the teacher uproar over their classroom funds? Cliff notes:

  • Every year teachers get a prepaid card to use to buy necessary school supplies
  • They do have to turn in receipts proving that they bought classroom stuff
  • In past years that was it; teachers might buy from Walmart or SchoolAids in Ridgeland, Amazon, Teacherspayteachers, etc.
  • This year the Department of Ed has decided to sign a 3yr contract with a company that has "approved vendors" only
  • None of those "approved vendors" are local (i.e. School Aids in Ridgeland may go out of business)
  • Many of the places that teachers get teaching material or software are not approved
  • Department of Ed gets a percentage kickback from this new company
Pretty crappy stuff and they apparently are locked into this contract for 3yrs. I don't sign any contracts longer than 1 yr for any new vendor in my business because they might suck and I'll be stuck with them. Greed and stupidity at the Department of Ed continue to abound...
Click to expand...
Like Lebby?
 
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horshack.sixpack

horshack.sixpack

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Hugh's Burner Phone said:
Also wonder how much more expensive things are with this contracted vendor since there's zero competition.
Click to expand...
You can be sure that they are expensive enough for the middle man to get a cut and pass part of the markup on to the department of Ed as well.

This happens in Healthcare IT quite a bit. There are Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO) that "pre approve" vendors. Pre-approval looks a lot like adding a vendor that they know they can sell to a hospital, marking that vendors quote up by at least 3%, putting the quote on the GPO paper and sending it to the hospital. They will argue that they are providing a valuable service, but realistically, that service is 3% markup on every purchase so that the hospital doesn't have to run an internal staff for writing and managing RFPs.
 
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grinningmule

grinningmule

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The article I read says it is a 1yr contract.
They have 160 pre approved vendors including five MS based vendors.
Requests to add vendors can be submitted.
The in person purchase option is the biggest inconvenience I see.
How is it a money grab when MSDOE is supplying the money anyhow?
If you want to see some BS purchasing rules come work for the Fed Gov.
 
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Wesson Bulldog

Wesson Bulldog

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grinningmule said:
The article I read says it is a 1yr contract.
They have 160 pre approved vendors including five MS based vendors.
Requests to add vendors can be submitted.
The in person purchase option is the biggest inconvenience I see.
How is it a money grab when MSDOE is supplying the money anyhow?
If you want to see some BS purchasing rules come work for the Fed Gov.
Click to expand...
He is NOT lying. My wife works for DOJ in Jackson. They do not overspend there, they just buy a bunch of software, hardware, office stuff that no one uses. Been going on since 08 like that.
 
horshack.sixpack

horshack.sixpack

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grinningmule said:
The article I read says it is a 1yr contract.
They have 160 pre approved vendors including five MS based vendors.
Requests to add vendors can be submitted.
The in person purchase option is the biggest inconvenience I see.
How is it a money grab when MSDOE is supplying the money anyhow?
If you want to see some BS purchasing rules come work for the Fed Gov.
Click to expand...
3yr was from my wife, the teacher. Could be incorrect. I did not get her source.

They took something that had been working well, restricted it severely, made it more difficult, and the only reason that I can discern is that they were not getting rebates doing the straightforward way. MDE change benefits them monetarily and is all downside for the people who use it.

Sure, vendors can jump through a million hoops to get added, but unless they know that they are going to make enough money to offset that trouble through MS teachers buying from them, they will not.

There are a number of things that my wife makes very good use of in her classroom that she will not have access to and will either pay out of her pocket, which is unlikely, or simply not have some of the tools she has had in the past, which is most likely.

I understand that if you are not being subjected to it, it might be hard to understand how negative the impact is for teachers, but I can assure you that it is.
 
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H

HRMSU

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horshack.sixpack said:
You can be sure that they are expensive enough for the middle man to get a cut and pass part of the markup on to the department of Ed as well.

This happens in Healthcare IT quite a bit. There are Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO) that "pre approve" vendors. Pre-approval looks a lot like adding a vendor that they know they can sell to a hospital, marking that vendors quote up by at least 3%, putting the quote on the GPO paper and sending it to the hospital. They will argue that they are providing a valuable service, but realistically, that service is 3% markup on every purchase so that the hospital doesn't have to run an internal staff for writing and managing RFPs.
Click to expand...
Ah, GPOs......another entity in the healthcare ecosystem that drives up the cost of healthcare.

As discussed before, anybody (especially politicians) that only rails against manufacturers or providers or make claims they can reduce healthcare costs through widget price reduction has zero 17'n clue about the real challenges in reducing healthcare costs.

17 GPOs and their legal extortion tactics.
 
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ETK99

ETK99

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Jul 30, 2019
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Apparently better educational performance by students doesn't bring rewards for teachers. Not surprised at all.
 
mstateglfr

mstateglfr

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horshack.sixpack said:
You can be sure that they are expensive enough for the middle man to get a cut and pass part of the markup on to the department of Ed as well.

This happens in Healthcare IT quite a bit. There are Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO) that "pre approve" vendors. Pre-approval looks a lot like adding a vendor that they know they can sell to a hospital, marking that vendors quote up by at least 3%, putting the quote on the GPO paper and sending it to the hospital. They will argue that they are providing a valuable service, but realistically, that service is 3% markup on every purchase so that the hospital doesn't have to run an internal staff for writing and managing RFPs.
Click to expand...

HRMSU said:
Ah, GPOs......another entity in the healthcare ecosystem that drives up the cost of healthcare.

As discussed before, anybody (especially politicians) that only rails against manufacturers or providers or make claims they can reduce healthcare costs through widget price reduction has zero 17'n clue about the real challenges in reducing healthcare costs.

17 GPOs and their legal extortion tactics.
Click to expand...


In my wold, GPOs are a lifesaver. They keep me enjoying my job. I would have left years ago if I couldn't use them.

OMNIA, NASPO, TIPS, Sourcewell, and a handful of other vetted and approved purchasing cooperatives help me and my company waste less time and ensure we get what we want.
They held reduce wasted time and dollars.


I am not in Healthcare though, and the procurement process is likely different.
 
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grinningmule

grinningmule

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horshack.sixpack said:
The "marketplace" entry is controlled by one vendor.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I get that and it could be a horrible thing or it could be good. Like I said, the lack of POS purchasing locally is the biggest downside I see if it is online sales only regardless of the vendor.
I work for the Fed Gov and the truest words ever spoken by a contracting officer was this: "Congress isn't concerned with maximizing taxpayer money, they are concerned with whose pockets that money goes in and what district in which they reside." Our purchasing rules don't allow us to get the most for our money, we are in fact forced to spend more for less.
The rebates back to DoE is what needs to be tracked. Are they using it to give the teachers a few more dollars every year for purchases? That is what needs to happen.
Bottom line is nobody likes changes, but he who controls the purse controls everything.
 
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GloryDawg

GloryDawg

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grinningmule said:
The article I read says it is a 1yr contract.
They have 160 pre approved vendors including five MS based vendors.
Requests to add vendors can be submitted.
The in person purchase option is the biggest inconvenience I see.
How is it a money grab when MSDOE is supplying the money anyhow?
If you want to see some BS purchasing rules come work for the Fed Gov.
Click to expand...
Your first mistake was thinking he was giving all the info. ***
 
P

Pink Floyd.sixpack

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Aug 22, 2012
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Sounds like the consulting money flying around in education. It’s ridiculous how much consulting money is being shelled out by districts in our state
 
seshomoru

seshomoru

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Don’t worry. They still can’t buy things like a chair to sit in at their desk with this money… when they eventually find out how to get it and where they are allowed to spend it.

Anyway… we bought my wife a chair for her classroom since she’s had the same one for 17 years and it was kinda worn out. The desk we bought is hanging in there though. I’d say more but I’ve gotta go cut out cards she’s currently laminating, trying to improve her first few lessons so her kids have a good start to the year. And don’t worry about that cost either… Sesh’s house covered that as well. And the boxes of dum dum suckers she hands out for good grades and participation. Got those covered as well since that’s not an appropriate use of funds. And the trash cans we replace every year. And the cleaning supplies to wipe down the desks every day.

She does have an Amazon wishlist that some people help out with though. What a beggar!!

Oh, we are in an A district by the way.
 
Last edited:
horshack.sixpack

horshack.sixpack

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Oct 30, 2012
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mstateglfr said:
In my wold, GPOs are a lifesaver. They keep me enjoying my job. I would have left years ago if I couldn't use them.

OMNIA, NASPO, TIPS, Sourcewell, and a handful of other vetted and approved purchasing cooperatives help me and my company waste less time and ensure we get what we want.
They held reduce wasted time and dollars.


I am not in Healthcare though, and the procurement process is likely different.
Click to expand...
The ones I deal with ensure that you get inflated prices, less choice, and couldn’t give a damn service. I could see some cost offset to not having to have as many procurement people however all the healthcare ones out up substantial barriers to entry often making it imposible to work with the people you want to work with.
 
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horshack.sixpack

horshack.sixpack

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Oct 30, 2012
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seshomoru said:
Don’t worry. They still can’t buy things like a chair to sit in at their desk with this money… when they eventually find out how to get it and where they are allowed to spend it.

Anyway… we bought my wife a chair for her classroom since she’s had the same one for 17 years and it was kinda worn out. The desk we bought is hanging in there though. I’d say more but I’ve gotta go cut out cards she’s currently laminating, trying to improve her first few lessons so her kids have a good start to the year. And don’t worry about that cost either… Sesh’s house covered that as well. And the boxes of dum dum suckers she hands out for good grades and participation. Got those covered as well since that’s not an appropriate use of funds. And the trash cans we replace every year. And the cleaning supplies to wipe down the desks every day.

She does have an Amazon wishlist that some people help out with though. What a beggar!!

Oh, we are in an A district by the way.
Click to expand...
Yep. I’ve bought chairs, podiums, etc.
 
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