NEW YORK—Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer held a press conference in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday to demand that the Department of Education (DOE) be subject to reform in light of the “shameful contractor scandals” that have recently been unveiled.
“We need DOE to open its books once and for all and rein in this reckless spending,” Stringer said. “These reforms are more urgent than ever, given City Hall’s misguided plan to eliminate 6,000 teachers, the largest classroom cuts in a generation.”
Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon wrote to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott on Tuesday regarding DOE executives George Raab and Joyce Thorne having “inappropriate financial relationships with three consultants while they were under contract.”
Raab, the DOE’s then-chief financial officer, had been taking the time to set up Guggenheim Securities with Bill Howatt and David O’Connor, two consultants under contract with the DOE, before resigning from the DOE to work for Guggenheim.
Howatt HR Consulting Inc. of Kentville, Nova Scotia, was paid $374,000 for less than a year’s work. Condon’s report says that he “worked nine hours offsite,” and mostly in Canada, on almost all of the dates billed to the DOE.
Recently, DOE official Judith Hederman abruptly resigned after it was found that she had a personal relationship with another DOE consultant from a technology firm, who had received millions of dollars in contracts from the DOE.
“This gravy train has got to stop. I’m calling on DOE to halt all new nonessential contracts until a thorough review of all these contracts can be completed,” Stringer said. “We need a proper review of all these contracts right now.”
The DOE’s spending on non-direct contracts, mainly consultant fees, has increased by 331 percent since fiscal year 2004. Education spending, over the same period of time, has only increased by 58 percent.
Stringer says the mayor is terribly misguided in his decision to lay off 6,000 teachers. “He’s missing the point,” Stringer said. “We have to fix this system.”
The Manhattan borough president added that because of the recent chain of scandals, the DOE no longer has the option to be elusive about the matter, as there would be dire consequences.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, noted that these are all non-direct services, not direct increases that pay for books or lunches. “You’re talking here about services that are not necessary to education,” he said, explaining that these contracts tend to be designed so the city can easily renegotiate them, so freezing them for an investigation should be no problem.
Stringer is pushing for a series of requirements he wants the DOE to adhere to. Along with freezing all non-essential contracts for review, he says the New York City comptroller should be granted more oversight on these contracts to ensure transparency.
The Manhattan borough president is also demanding for a system to be put in place detailing parameters for foreign contracts, to ensure that consultants are doing what they’re paid to do. Additionally, he is calling for the contracts to be assessed by the Panel for Education Policy, for the information on contract awards to be made public, and for protocols to be put in place to prevent incidents like Raab’s moving from his DOE position to work for one of the agency’s contractors almost immediately.
“We don’t just want to criticize,” Stringer said. “We actually want to offer helpful suggestions, and that’s why we’re coming up with these proposals and expectations.”
Stringer has written to Walcott on the issue and said that the schools chancellor responded that he would look into the matter.
“We need DOE to open its books once and for all and rein in this reckless spending,” Stringer said. “These reforms are more urgent than ever, given City Hall’s misguided plan to eliminate 6,000 teachers, the largest classroom cuts in a generation.”
Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon wrote to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott on Tuesday regarding DOE executives George Raab and Joyce Thorne having “inappropriate financial relationships with three consultants while they were under contract.”
Raab, the DOE’s then-chief financial officer, had been taking the time to set up Guggenheim Securities with Bill Howatt and David O’Connor, two consultants under contract with the DOE, before resigning from the DOE to work for Guggenheim.
Howatt HR Consulting Inc. of Kentville, Nova Scotia, was paid $374,000 for less than a year’s work. Condon’s report says that he “worked nine hours offsite,” and mostly in Canada, on almost all of the dates billed to the DOE.
Recently, DOE official Judith Hederman abruptly resigned after it was found that she had a personal relationship with another DOE consultant from a technology firm, who had received millions of dollars in contracts from the DOE.
“This gravy train has got to stop. I’m calling on DOE to halt all new nonessential contracts until a thorough review of all these contracts can be completed,” Stringer said. “We need a proper review of all these contracts right now.”
The DOE’s spending on non-direct contracts, mainly consultant fees, has increased by 331 percent since fiscal year 2004. Education spending, over the same period of time, has only increased by 58 percent.
Stringer says the mayor is terribly misguided in his decision to lay off 6,000 teachers. “He’s missing the point,” Stringer said. “We have to fix this system.”
The Manhattan borough president added that because of the recent chain of scandals, the DOE no longer has the option to be elusive about the matter, as there would be dire consequences.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, noted that these are all non-direct services, not direct increases that pay for books or lunches. “You’re talking here about services that are not necessary to education,” he said, explaining that these contracts tend to be designed so the city can easily renegotiate them, so freezing them for an investigation should be no problem.
Stringer is pushing for a series of requirements he wants the DOE to adhere to. Along with freezing all non-essential contracts for review, he says the New York City comptroller should be granted more oversight on these contracts to ensure transparency.
The Manhattan borough president is also demanding for a system to be put in place detailing parameters for foreign contracts, to ensure that consultants are doing what they’re paid to do. Additionally, he is calling for the contracts to be assessed by the Panel for Education Policy, for the information on contract awards to be made public, and for protocols to be put in place to prevent incidents like Raab’s moving from his DOE position to work for one of the agency’s contractors almost immediately.
“We don’t just want to criticize,” Stringer said. “We actually want to offer helpful suggestions, and that’s why we’re coming up with these proposals and expectations.”
Stringer has written to Walcott on the issue and said that the schools chancellor responded that he would look into the matter.
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