Calling the Department of Education's budget a "black hole" document that fails to make clear to New Yorkers how their tax dollars are being spent, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer last week revealed that DOE plans to spend nearly $1 billion for consultants from FY 2011-2012, and asked how the Department can justify such pending at a time when the Mayor plans to lay off more than 6,000 teachers.
"The crisis threatening our educational system is real and we need to get our priorities straight," Stringer said. "Protecting teachers should be our number one objective, and this is no time to cover up distorted priorities with budgetary mumbo-jumbo," Stringer said. "DOE must come clean with the public--and this year's budget is a good place to start."
The Borough President noted that, during a briefing session, he asked Budget Director Mark Page for specific details on DOE's budget for outside consultants. "You were unable to provide an adequate response," Stringer said, in a letter sent to Page. As a result, the Borough President did his own research and discovered that DOE spending on outside consultants will actually increase this year by $54.4 million, an increase of nearly 6%, to a total of $982,269,859.
Borough President Stringer pointed out that DOE's projected budget for outside consultants and other expenses is presented in coded language in budget documents with little or no explanation. "If public officials and trained experts can't figure out where the money is going, how can hard-working parents worried about a devastating loss of teachers figure it out?" he asked.
"Given the nature of the crisis at hand, the lack of transparency from City officials around the DOE budget is extremely troubling," Stringer said. "I find it impossible to believe that the $350 million to avert teachers layoffs cannot be found somewhere within the DOE's total budget of $19.2 billion. "It is obvious the public has not been given enough information to identify or properly evaluate how their taxpayer dollars are being spent," the Borough President continued.
The Borough President spelled out key requests for information to DOE, including a detailed breakdown of its spending on external consultants, with a description of the amount, name and scope, plus the start and end dates of every contract. He asked for more specific data on central administration computer services, which are projected to increase by more than $23 million this year. He also requested information on all DOE contracts that have not been competitively bid, particularly those related to busing. Additionally, he asked for detailed information about the $12.7 million in spending on recruitment --including a proposed $951,526 increase in FY 12 -- at a time when massive layoffs of New York City school teachers are being contemplated.
"This should not be secret information hidden away in department files," Stringer said. "It belongs to taxpayers who foot the bill for public education in this City and have an absolute right to know how their money is being spent."