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Senate panel probes $6AD7M psychometric purchase after tests and manuals arrive largely in English
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Summary
Lawmakers and psychologists criticized the Department of Education's procurement of a battery of psychometric instruments, saying manuals arrived in English and asking for purchase orders, invoices and award documents within 10 days to determine whether public procurement rules or contract terms were violated.
The Senate's Special Commission on Legislative Monitoring pressed the Department of Education on June 5 over the purchase and distribution of psychometric instruments for school psychologists after some manuals and materials arrived in English.
Senators and union representatives said the Department awarded a procurement for 14AD15 instrument packages in late 2023 and early 2024 that cost an estimated "around seven million" dollars. "We received catorce instrumentos, algunos en espaF1ol y su mayorAD—a en inglE9s," said a union representative for the regional office psychologists. The Department acknowledged that manuals for some tests were in English and said it was reviewing the matter.
"We did not intentionally request the instruments in English," Dr. Noelia CortE9s, the secretary associate for special education, told the commission. She said two instruments appear to be in English and that the department planned a meeting with the vendor Pearson to clarify alternatives and possible remedies.
Committee members demanded procurement records. The chair instructed the department to provide, within 10 calendar days, the purchase orders, the procurement award (buena pro) documentation, invoices and delivery receipts that accompanied the shipments; also requested were a line-by-line list of instruments, quantities delivered to each regional office, and itemized cost per renglF3n. "I want to see the order of purchase, the invoice, the receipt that accompanies the delivery of those tests," the senator told the department.
Department staff said they would supply the requested documentation and that trainings had already been held for the tests. The department also said it paused full-scale evaluation rollout until it completed an operational plan for administering the batteries in schools where language, age and clinical-ethics concerns might make some instruments inappropriate.
Union leaders and some legislators framed the issue as both fiscal oversight and cultural suitability: they argued that instruments for public-school students in Puerto Rico should be validated for the Puerto Rican population and delivered in Spanish unless an explicit, documented bilingual need exists. Representative Denis ME1rquez LeBrF3n and other members flagged the use of $6AD7 million in public funds and asked whether the department had performed central-level quality control before mass distribution.
Next steps: The Department of Education agreed to meet Pearson and to deliver procurement and delivery records to the commission within 10 days. The commission may use those documents to determine whether contract remedies, returns or other administrative measures are warranted.
