77% Of The Race To The Top Award Money In NYC Went To Pay For Consultants, Central Office Work, And Support Staff

Remember when they told us we had to win Race to the Top because that money was so desperately needed for the kids?

Yeah, turns out that was NOT what they planned on spending the RttT cash on:

Less than a quarter of the $107 million that the school system received in federal Race to The Top funds last year was sent directly to school principals.

The decision on how to spend most of the money — $83 million — was made by the central Department of Education, which channeled the federal funds to support staff, consultants and fringe benefits, according to a study by the Independent Budget Office.

This isn't a surprise to those who were paying attention to what was happening around the RttT reforms - they were NEVER supposed to help children or teachers.

Rather, RttT was always about the consultants, the accountability measures and data tracking programs - in short, a lot of the stuff the NYCDOE spent the RttT cash on.

Obama administration hacks and RttT supporters say that stuff DOES help children and teachers, but those of us working in schools and parents with children in the schools know better.

RttT brought CCSS, the Endless Testing regime, APPR teacher evaluations that mandate so many extra tests so that the scores can be used to fire teachers, and the data tracking programs that were meant to account for all this stuff.

If the politicians in charge really wanted to help children and teachers in schools, they would have used the money to lower class sizes, build new facilities, get the kids out of the mold-infested trailers, etc.

But education reform isn't about helping children or teachers.

It's about making it look like they're trying to help children and teachers while really spending billions on the pet projects run by their friends and cronies.

Stringer: DOE Spends $982,269,859 On Consultant Contracts

Got an email from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer today. Here's a part of it:

As I’m sure you’re aware, our public schools are facing a crisis this year over the possible layoff of more than 6,000 teachers. Mayor Bloomberg’s Executive Budget proposes to cut one out of every 12 classroom teachers, citing a fiscal emergency. I believe this is a destructive and unnecessary move - a decision prompted more by City Hall politics than sound fiscal analysis.

Last week, when the Mayor’s Executive Budget was unveiled, I asked Budget Director Mark Page for details about the enormous amounts of money that the Department of Education (DOE) spends on consultants. He could not give me an adequate response. So I did my own research and what I found was astonishing: DOE is increasing its spending this year on outside consultants, a $54.4 million increase or 6% gain from FY 2011 levels, as part of a whopping $982,269,859 expenditure. At the same time, it is moving ahead with plans to lay off more than 6,000 teachers.

The DOE’s plans are typically presented in opaque language in budget documents, with little or no explanation, and therefore gathering this data is extremely challenging. I believe we can save all these jobs, at no extra cost to taxpayers, and the answer is smack dab in the Mayor’s budget. But it requires the Department of Education to come clean with New York residents about its budget and listen to parents across the City when they voice concerns about our schools. You can learn more about our analysis in this story in the NY Daily News. I am demanding answers from the DOE and will keep you posted on this situation.

You bet the DOE uses opaque language in budget documents - that's how they hide all the corruption.

Like this.

And this.

Do you know Ron Paul's call to audit the Fed?

I think we need to have a call to audit the DOE.

Every part of the DOE.

Not just some of the contracts, as Comptroller John Liu is doing.

That's a great thing and I am pleased that Comptroller Liu has taken it upon himself to do this.

Because you can bet Bill Thompson, a man who never met a Bloomberg expenditure he wouldn't approve, wouldn't have.

But the more we see how much they're spending on stuff, even as they ready to lay off teachers, the more I am convinced that an independent audit of the DOE is needed.

And one more thing: mayoral control MUST be wrested from Bloomberg's crooked oligarch hands.

The oligarchy cannot hold.