The Houston Chronicle has updated their investigation into royalties received by educators at the UT Health Science Center at Houston. From their story today:

An experiment to better prepare low-income youngsters for school has cost taxpayers more than three times the typical pre-K curriculum and raised questions about payments to educators who commercialized the program.

Staff members at the State Center for Early Childhood Development have received about $500,000 in royalties from vendors and book publishers whose products are used in classrooms participating in the Texas Early Education Model, or TEEM.

Critics fear that the $80 million program is little more than an effort to market research and products through a variety of commercial vendors.

The story goes on to cite critics of the pre-K model, who question the educational benefit of the curriculum and the program's costs to the taxpayers. Writer Gary Scharrer reports that the costs may be out of whack and that the taxpayers may be footing the bill twice for some services:

Materials, licensing fees and mentoring for a TEEM classroom cost $11,175 for the first year of a participating school, child-care center or Head Start program — far more than the $4,000 for a typical pre-K classroom. State and federal grants pay for the TEEM costs.

(Retired educator Jay Spuck) said taxpayers are getting socked twice as school districts already provide professional development, assessment and curriculum for pre-K. She is convinced that youngsters participating in TEEM are not benefiting.

The story closes with an update on officials' slow-walking on a public records request placed almost three months ago. The university has responded to the investigation by saying the royalties weren't based on products used in TEEM classrooms, but apparently on other pre-K products.

But when the newspaper asked for more specifics, the officials pushed back:

The Houston Chronicle asked university officials Aug. 20 to document the source of royalties from such companies as Brewer Educational Resources, Hatch, Teachscape and Wireless Generation that produce pre-K products.

The health science center has not yet provided such documentation. Instead, university officials have asked the state attorney general for an opinion on whether the information can be released because it involves third parties: the companies paying the royalties.

We hope the AG opines in the public's favor. The newspaper just wants to know whether the educators who can decide which books and programs to use are getting paid handsomely by the very companies that create those programs.

Photo: Woman reading to child, by flickr user sean dreilinger, used via the Creative Commons license.