Disputed Technology Center Holds Conference; Ed School Contract Under Federal Review

The Graduate School of Education this week held its first public forum on math and science education, using money awarded last year in a contested $7.7 million federal contract from the National Institute of Education (NIE) to fund a center for technology and education.

The conference, held Monday and Tuesday, brought 150 educators from around the country to discuss problems in teaching math and science in elementary and secondary schools, and the potential role of computers in solving these problems.

The Bank Street College in New York last September lost the contract to Harvard in the final round of bidding, and immediately filed a complaint with the General Accounting Office. Bank Street charged the NIE with using illegal procedures in deciding which school would receive the federal money.

The accounting office has been reviewing Bank Street's claims since December 16, and is expected to make a ruling by mid-March.

NIE Director Manuel J. Justiz defended the Harvard contract in his opening remarks to the conference Monday night, but refused in an interview to comment on the Bank Street complaint.

Justiz told the 100-member audience in Longfellow Hall that Harvard is a "superb" location for the research center, because of "its reputation and tradition that few institutions on earth can match."

The conflict over the grant does not involve the integrity of the Ed School, Robert C. Granger, vice president and dean of Bank Street, said yesterday.

Granger charged the NIE with withholding contract information from Bank Street that it provided Harvard, adding that Bank Street was placed at a major disadvantage in the competition for the contract.

In the decision to award the contract to Harvard, Justiz overruled an advisory panel that had favored by a one-vote margin the Bank Street proposal. A high-ranking NIE adviser had also publicly supported the Bank Street bid.

Granger called Justiz's veto "an extraordinary action," adding that it "violated the integrity of the peer review process" and broke a strong precedent of following the recommendations of the advisory panel and the contracting adviser.

Since the funds were allocated, Harvard has maintained that the NIE followed all federal laws in awarding the prestigious contract.

Harvard's Deputy General Martin Michaelson said yesterday that the purpose of the advisory panel was to give advice, adding that Justiz was entitled to differ from the panel's recommendations.

Other controversies have surfaced regarding NIE's decision to award the contract to Harvard.

An article in the January issue of the American Psychological Association Monitor suggested that Justiz's decision in favor of Harvard may have been the result of political pressure brought on the NIE by Silvio O. Conte (R-Mass.), ranking minority member of the House committee which controls NIE funds.

Conte, responding in a letter to The Washington Post, denied the accusations.

Conte said he had supported an unsuccessful University of Massachusetts at Amherst bid, and was not trying to railroad the contract through to Cambridge.