Comptroller John Liu rejected a $20 million contract for teacher recruitment today, calling the proposal wasteful given the city’s current fiscal climate. Yet the main reason for the comptroller’s refusal came down to paperwork.
A spokesman for the comptroller’s office said that the five-year contract with The New Teacher Project was rejected this morning because of problems with the DOE’s submission. In reviewing the contract, officials in the comptroller’s office said that the DOE did not include information on conflicts of interest or what the dates of service would be. The department can choose to resubmit the contract.
The New Teacher Project, or TNTP, is a non-profit that handles the recruitment and training of New York City’s Teaching Fellows. It also studies teacher job markets around the country
In a statement sent to reporters, Liu — a possible candidate in the next mayoral election — said he objected to the contract’s premise. The city does not need to spend money recruiting new teachers, he said.
“Twenty million dollars to recruit teachers as the DOE insists on laying off thousands of teachers seems curious at best,” Liu said.
Indeed it does.
Some might say that at worst, this is payola to Michelle Rhee's old group.
Regardless of WHAT it is, the WHY it is really is the biggest problem.
The mayor says he needs to save $300 million in the DOE budget by laying off 4,666 teachers. But he insists upon spending $20 million to recruit new teachers via the New Teacher Project, an education reform-friendly group that is loaded with lots of Klein and Rhee cronies.
Gotham Schools points out that the Panel for Educational Policy approved a similar contract for the New Teacher Project last May for $5 million even though Bloomberg was threatening layoffs then too.
It is good to see Liu reject this contract, albeit for a paperwork problem, but also call the mayor and the DOE out for the hypocrisy of looking to spend $20 million to recruit new teachers when they're in the process of laying off 4,666 teachers to ostensibly save $300 million.
More and more, John Liu is becoming the counterpoint to the corporate oligarchy that Bloomberg is running in this city.
John Liu is doing his job. Excellent. No one before Liu has been able to make a dent in Bloomberg's armor.
ReplyDeleteWhen posed as teacher-per-teacher this does look a bit strange. However, as a college graduate I can tell you with absolute confidence that not all teachers are created equal. If done correctly, lay-offs should be happening to low-performing teachers; the same teachers that could be helped by a successful, 12 year old program such as NYC Teaching Fellows. I sincerely hope John Liu recognizes these issues are not created equal and approves the contract when it is resubmitted.
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