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Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
Michael Shellenberger
@shellenberger
CBR Chair of Politics, Censorship & Free Speech @UAustinOrg : Dao Journalism Winner : Time, "Hero of Environment" : Author, “Apocalypse Never,” "San Fransicko"
694 subscribers
Mar 20 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Free Speech Diplomacy, R.I.P.

March 3, 2025 - March 19, 2025 Was fun while it lasted!
Mar 18 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Every single Trump advisor, including and especially @StephenM, knows perfectly well that what they did is unconstitutional. It's up to the courts not the Administration to determine whether it is non-justiciable. The administration must comply with the order until a higher court reverses it or sets it aside. That's how our system works.
Mar 17 • 4 tweets • 6 min read
There's no proof of major waste, fraud, or abuse in govt spending, say the media. But there is. And now Public has obtained invoices revealing that a major contractor overcharged the Ed. Dept, paid its CEO $2M/year, and promoted debunked research as student performance declined. Image US Education Department Contractor Overcharged Taxpayers While Spending Millions On Executive Salaries

As student math and reading scores declined, the American Institute of Research charged 50% in indirect costs and paid its CEO over $2 million

by @galexybrane and @shellenberger

Over the last few weeks, the media and Democrats have been lambasting President Donald Trump for cutting the Department of Education’s research budget. In particular, the media criticized the Trump administration for cutting a contractor’s research into support services for students with disabilities who are nearing graduation.

But it’s not clear that the research was necessary or successful, and there is already both state and federal funding aimed at helping students with disabilities to develop life skills and plans for the future.

And now Public has obtained invoices showing that the Department’s contractor for the research in question, American Institute for Research (AIR), had significantly overcharged the Department in so-called indirect costs.

The invoice is from November 18, 2024, and shows AIR billing the Department $411,961.35 for the month of October 2024. Of that money, $214,952.74 was in “total indirects.” AIR charged an additional $26,950.74 as a 7% fee.

The invoice shows that the cumulative amount that AIR had billed the Department of Education was $10,957,275.73, of which $4,993,376.12 was total indirects and $716,831.18 was total additional fees.

A second invoice is from January 15, 2025, and shows AIR billing the Department $60,913.72 for the month of December 2024. Of that money, $29,685.23 was in total indirects. AIR charged an additional $3,985.01 as a 7% fee.

The invoice shows that the cumulative amount that AIR had billed the Department of Education was $11,076,493.79, of which $5,028,446.77 was total indirects and $724,630.48 was total additional fees.

In response to questions from Public, an AIR spokesperson said, “AIR’s indirect rates are similar to those of other social and behavioral research organizations and we have always abided by our approved rates. For government contractors, indirect costs include such costs as information technology, data security, and compliance and reporting.”

However, 50% in indirect fees is widely considered excessive. The National Institutes of Health recently required that its contractors lower indirect costs to 15% to reduce widespread overcharging.

Indeed, when asked about the invoice, a spokesperson for the Department of Education condemned the high fees. “Contracts with indirect rates over 50% take gross advantage of taxpayer dollars, perverting the reason the contracts exist — our students,” said Department spokesperson Madison Biedermann. “Incoming leadership will no longer allow these unacceptable terms.”

According to AIR’s IRS 990 form, the total compensation of AIR’s chief executive, David Myers, in the most recent year available, 2023, was $2,241,374.

“At the end of 2023, David Myers finished a 14-year tenure as AIR’s President and Chief Executive Officer,” said the AIR spokesperson. “His compensation for his final year included a retention payment. The salary for our current President and CEO is lower and in line with what other non-profit organizations of our size and type pay their chief executives.”

However, AIR’s tax forms showed that Myers earned $2,294,637 in 2022 and $1,145,400 in 2021.

Jessica Heppen is the current president and CEO. In 2023, she earned $685,060 as president. Neither Heppen nor Myers responded to Public’s request for comment.

AIR’s 990 form shows other high salaries for staff and fees for board members. AIR’s Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, earned $931,610 in 2023, and its CFO earned $1,145,400 in 2022. A member of the AIR Board, Robert Boruch, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, received $80,250 in 2023 for just 2 hours of work per week, which is $772 per hour.

While nonprofit board members typically donate their time, 14 of AIR’s board members received hundreds of dollars per hour for their service. None responded to requests by Public for comment.

AIR’s fees should be considered in the broader context of declining student performance and AIR’s role to provide research that improves student performance.

Today, only 31% of fourth graders and only 30% of eighth graders are reading at or above proficiency levels, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In eighth grade reading, 33% of students scored “below basic,” the highest percentage recorded in the NAEP’s history.

Congress established the Education Department in 1979 “to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.”

Student performance has declined across the board over the last 10 years. While Covid school closures significantly worsened them, math and reading scores declined for fourth- and eighth-graders nationwide from 2014 to 2024.

AIR appears to be partly responsible. It gave a favorable evaluation to Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study curriculum, which used elements of the now-debunked “whole language” approach to reading instead of systematic phonics instruction.

Under the whole language approach, teachers taught children to memorize whole words and use guessing strategies instead of sounding out individual sounds in unfamiliar words.

The failure of the whole language approach was precisely why the Department of Education hires groups like AIR. The goal of research is to discover which teaching methods work and which don’t before schools adopt them. That didn’t happen. In fact, the opposite did. The result was a whole generation of children robbed of fundamental literacy.

“It is absolutely inaccurate to say we ‘gave a favorable evaluation’ to Units of Study,” said AIR.

But the evaluation was clearly positive. Implementation of the curriculum, AIR’s report stated, “is associated with improvements in ELA [English Language Arts] achievement starting in the second year of implementation, and in schools that opt to continue with the approach long term, the magnitude of the effects grow larger over time.”

And even AIR noted, in its email to Public, “We found no positive effect in the first year of implementation, then saw positive effects in subsequent years for some schools.”

Other Department contractors had much lower indirect rates. Why was AIR able to charge so much?

If you're not already a subscriber, please subscribe now to support Public's award-winning investigative reporting, read the rest of the article, and watch the full video!

x.com/shellenberger/…
Mar 16 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
The former head of the UK's foreign intelligence agency, MI6, told Boris Johnson in early 2020 that the Covid virus escaped from the Wuhan lab. That means that the US, UK, Chinese, & German governments all knew the truth, covered it up, and spread disinformation. Case closed. Image "It is now beyond reasonable doubt that Covid-19 was engineered in Wuhan Institute of Virology... [China] is now engaged in an information & influence operation (IO) to deflect responsibility....the Journal Nature was used to promulgate the narrative..."

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Mar 3 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Zelensky says he wants the war to end, but he’s not acting like it. Friday he dismissed the US ceasefire as unworkable. Saturday he had European leaders affirm his position. And now he says the end of the war is “very, very far away.” Feels like we’re being played. Image If Zelensky’s strategy is to alienate the American people, and the president they just elected, one day before he addresses Congress, it’s working. Image
Mar 1 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Zelenskyy says he’s grateful for US support but he acts entitled to it. He still hasn’t apologized for his behavior. And now he’s demanding the US do more. Zelensky, like Europe, doesn’t respect us. And relationships without mutual respect can’t last. Image People say The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances in 1994 provided security assurances, but it did not include a binding defense commitment. Even pro-war voices admit the US is not legally obligated to defend Ukraine militarily under the Budapest Memorandum. Image
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Feb 28 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
Healthy relationships depend on mutual respect. Ukraine and Europe don't respect us; they look down on us. America never had any obligation to protect Ukraine. And now we're asking why we should continue to spend our money, and put our lives on the line, to protect Europe. Image
Feb 28 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
The behavior of Zelenskyy is typical of Europe as a whole. Entitled. In denial of reality. Narcissistic. Unconcerned with our need to deal with many massive internal problems. Such juvenile & entitled behavior makes us less not more desirous of helping Ukraine and Europe. Do Europeans think we don’t know they disrespect us? Look down on us? Think they’re better for us? I love Europe, but it is run by snotty children. This kind of behavior makes us want to get us the hell out of NATO. Go defend yourself, Europe. We’re sick of you ingrates.
Feb 28 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Zelensky says he wants peace but he just rudely dismissed the Trump administration's diplomacy as pointless. That angered Trump and @JDVance and now Zelensky has fled the White House. This should be the wake-up call that global elites & Europe desperately need. Trump to Zelenskyy: " I've empowered you to be a tough guy. And I don't think you'd be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave. But you're either gonna make a deal, or we're out. And if we're out, you'll fight it out. I don't think it's going to be pretty, but you'll fight it out. But you don't have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you're in a much better position. But you're not acting at all thankful, and that's not a nice thing. I'll be honest, that's not a nice thing. Alright, uh, I think we've seen enough."
Feb 28 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I thought the LA fires would wake California up. I was wrong. *Half* of LA fires are started by ~50k meth/fentanyl addicts/mentally ill homeless. LA has half the firefighters it needs. There's not enough hydrant water. And Gavin Newsom is focused like a laser on his podcast. Everyone talks about the coming disastrous fires and "Big One" earthquake, so you'd think Gavin Newsom would be taking urgent action. He's not. Instead, he's attacking Trump and demanding $40 billion to pay for the LA fires that his leadership failures created. Image
Feb 25 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
FBI whistleblower @GOBactual confirmed to me that a source inside FBI said FBI employees were destroying evidence on servers, and that he informed @Kash_Patel

I hope he & @AGPamBondi @JohnRatcliffe @elonmusk @realannapaulina are preventing this.

We urgently need disclosure! Also I hope @realDonaldTrump @TulsiGabbard and @Sec_Noemare are alert to any insider threats that could be destroying evidence that belongs to the American people. Don’t let abusers of power cover up their tracks!
Feb 22 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
For weeks, the media said that, by eliminating USAID, Trump had created a "constitutional crisis" and "abandoned" vulnerable people. It was all nonsense. A federal judge today ruled that the "risk posed to USAID employees... is far more minimal than it initially appeared. " Image Media outlets uncritically embraced the notion that what Trump had done was unconstitutional. They uncritically accepted claims that USAID people would somehow be put in grave danger. It was all total nonsense, the evidence shows.Image
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Feb 21 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
The UK seems like a free nation. It’s not. It is run by a tyrant, Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer . Shame on him for his totalitarian demand. And bravo to Apple CEO @tim_cook for defying the government. Please share this to warn the world that UK is no longer safe for free people! Image “Apple previously called a bill from the UK Parliament that sought access to user data ‘unprecedented overreach by the government.’ At the time, the company said that ‘the UK could attempt to secretly veto new user protections globally preventing us from ever offering them to customers.’”
Feb 20 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
For weeks the media have insisted that Trump and Elon were lying about rampant government fraud, waste, or abuse. Finally WSJ admits that “wasteful spending… isn’t hard to find.” Ya think? Image Both of these examples of disinformation were published today Image
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Feb 14 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
JD Vance is right: the greatest threat to free speech and democracy in the Western world comes from Europe. This week, I warned of the global axis of censorship, and why America must stand up for our founding values. It is inspiring to see the Trump admin. center free speech! Bravo @JDVance !

Feb 12 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
The New York Times says “Musk Asserts Without Proof That Bureaucracy Is Rife With Fraud.” Seriously? The GAO — under Biden — estimated last year that we are losing $233-$521 billion *per year* to fraud. Guys, it’s right there. Why do you continue with this… fraud? SMH Image
Image Seriously, why do you guys keep doing this? Everyone can see you’re lying. It’s pathological.
Feb 11 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
For decades, presidents said they told us everything they could about Covid, JFK, Epstein, UAPs and more. They lied. Trump promised real disclosure and now @realannapaulina says, “We’ve been treated like children for too long,” and will disclose! LFG! 🔥

.@realannapaulina is right: the only way to repair the trust lost between the American people and those we entrust with our security is for a historic process of disclosure of information that should no longer remain secret. Image
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Feb 7 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
The American people elected Trump and he has authority over the Dept of Ed, not Congress. Its oversight duties don’t mean its members can storm executive branch buildings. Radicalized members, not Trump, are the ones threatening the separation of powers.

The members of Congress are saying they’re entitled to enter the building because they are members of Congress. Nope. That’s not what our Constitution says.

Left-wing authoritarianism overlaps exactly with narcissism. That’s what’s on display above. Most obnoxious people in DC Image
Feb 5 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
The CIA has offered employees eight months pay and benefits to leave. Great start. After that, Director @JohnRatcliffe can clean house. The CIA illegally spied on the 2016 Trump campaign, hid Covid's origins, and spread disinformation about the Hunter Biden laptop. Image The U.S. Intelligence Community said in January 2017 that Russia favored Trump as president. It didn't. The CIA "cooked the intelligence" to hide that Vladamir Putin wanted Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump, as president.

Feb 4 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Forty-three paragraphs into the NYT's latest hit piece on @elonmusk, the six (!) by-lined reporters reveal that the federal government lost $236 billion to apparent fraud ("improper payments") in 2023 alone. Maybe this isn't the dunk you guys thought it was? Image It takes a village Image
Jan 29 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
The media said "gender affirming care" relied on good science. It didn't. The internal files of trans medical group WPATH proved that. And now, Trump's ban on government support for chemical & surgical mutilation of children recognizes that WPATH is junk science. Awesome. Image "Ending Reliance on Junk Science. The harm done to children by chemical & surgical mutilation cloaks itself in medical necessity, spurred by guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which lacks scientific integrity"
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