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The Texas Education Agency is considering changing the way it vets vendors who train new school board members after finding out that a recently approved provider — who has pitched his training as a conservative alternative to “woke” programs — is a felon.
Earlier this fall, the TEA approved James Dunn and his organization, Angleton-based Gulf Coast Community Action Agency, to start training school board members as a registered provider. Dunn is Gulf Coast’s executive director.
Public records indicate that Dunn was convicted and sentenced to 33 months in federal prison in 2009 for filing false reimbursement claims with the U.S. Department of Education. His now-dissolved company, Rehab Specialist Inc., had been hired by the now-defunct Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services to provide vocational education to people with mental and physical disabilities, but it never did.
One year later, Dunn was indicted for his part in a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs housing scheme. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 27 months in prison, according to federal court records.
When asked by The Texas Tribune about the convictions, Dunn denied they were related to him but declined to elaborate or provide proof.
“That is not me,” Dunn said during a phone call in November.
The Tribune reviewed public records that tie Dunn to both the Gulf Coast Community Action...
Over the last year, beyond traditional healthcare and federal procurement matters, the government has pursued federal False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and enforcement across high-risk areas, i...