(AP) – Newly released emails detail hidden plan for the Kansas City school district and raise questions about how a contract was awarded to a private education reform group tasked with recommending ways of improving the school system.

The interfaith social justice organization MORE2 obtained the emails through a Sunshine Law request and shared them with the Kansas City Star. The emails show Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro’s wish for a statewide district that would operate some of the state’s lowest-performing schools, many of them likely in unaccredited Kansas City.

The emails also show that Indianapolis-based CEE-Trust was hired as a consultant even though another agency had offered its services for a third of the price. Nicastro says the state is after “new ideas.”