A federal official gained significant financial benefit from a commercial reading program he wrote, which he actively promoted while serving as a high-level adviser to states during the implementation of the Reading First program, a Senate report said last week. The official, Edward J. Kame'enui, may have misrepresented those details when he testified under oath before a congressional committee last month, according to the preliminary results of a Senate education committee investigation. Kame'enui, who is now serving as the commissioner for special education research at the U.S. Department of Education, had close ties to publishing companies that were competing for business among schools and districts participating in the $1 billion-a-year reading initiative, concludes the report. It was released May 9 by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. At a House hearing on Reading First and student loans last week, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said she was "deeply concerned" by the Senate report and was "vigorously" investigating the allegations. However, she is unsure whether she will ask for resignation of official reported to have benefited financially from his position.