ED Tech Contract Program (ARRA funds)

THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. THIS OPPORTUITY IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO PAL SERVICES INCORPORATED UNDER CONTRACT NUMBER ED-08-CO-0127 The U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), required a contract to provide secular, neutral and non-ideological educational services or other benefits, including materials and equipment, that will assure the equitable participation of children enrolled in private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools. The Department obtained these services through a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract awarded to PAL Services Incorporated on September 30, 2009. The Department currently has a same need utilizing the ARRA funds under contract ED-08-CO-0127 in the amount of $846,229. The ARRA provides $650 million in fiscal year (FY) 2009 funds for the ENHANCING EDUCATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY (Ed Tech) program, which is authorized under Title II, Part D, Subpart 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). The Ed Tech ARRA funds are a one-time source of funds that supplement the approximately $265 million of Ed Tech funds made available under the regular FY 2009 appropriation. The primary goal of the Ed Tech program is to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in schools. It is also designed to ensure that every student is technologically literate by the end of eighth grade and to encourage the effective integration of technology with teacher training and curriculum development to establish successful research-based instructional methods. All Ed Tech ARRA funds are subject to the requirements in Title II, Part D, and Subpart 1 of the ESEA (Title II-D). The Ed Tech program is one of the programs covered by the private school equitable participation requirements in section 9501 of the ESEA. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has been informed by the General Counsel of the Missouri Department of Education that the Missouri Constitution and related court rulings preclude the State and its LEAs from providing equitable services for private school students and teachers under the Ed Tech program. As a result, ED is making arrangements to provide equitable services to private school children through a special contract pursuant to section 9502 of the ESEA. This action will be awarded on a cost-plus- fixed- fee basis as a result of the following factors associated with the annual applications and the restrictions on the use of Ed Tech ARRA funds: Both the Contractor and the Department have uncertainties on how many private schools would request for this services and the frequencies of the requests. There are uncertainties on how many times the school will be requesting the contractor to procure and provide the goods and services approved, and deliver the product/services and the cost of each request. These uncertainties would have resulted in a significant risk premium if a firm-fixed-price contract was awarded; therefore, it was in the best interest of the Government to share the risk associated with the uncertainties by awarding a cost type modification. The contract modification must be aligned with the existing contract, which is not a fixed price contract.