NYC to spend one billion on consultants while firing 4,100 teachers.

[madfloridian]

City prepares to spend nearly $1 billion on education consultants as it fires 4,100 teachers

As the city prepares to lay off 4,100 teachers, the Department of Education is planning to spend nearly $1 billion on consultants next school year, a new analysis shows.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer blasted the agency's budget as a "black hole" and took issue with the 6% increase on consultants, after his office pored over the latest budget documents.

.."The analysis also found increased spending on consultants to recruit teachers by nearly $1 million - while the city is cutting teachers.

A lot of the cuts will harm many students.

Jose Gonzalez, whose sons Alvaro, 10 and Allan, 9, attend Public School 73 in the Bronx joined a protest against budget cuts held yesterday at City Hall.

"We want a better education for our children. How are we going to do that?...They're really wasting money on consultants and contracts," said Gonzalez, a member of the Coalition for Educational Justice.

A little more:

The DOE Has A $1 Billion Dollar Consultant Problem

The Department of Education, meant to be one of the defining triumphs of Michael Bloomberg's mayoral career, has become a "fiscal black hole" with a serious consultant problem to the tune of $982 million, according to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. That title comes after yet another consultant-related financial scandal came out of the department. Turns out the former Chief Financial Officer of the DOE, George Raab, and several consultants used their time there to plot Raab's exit to a private financial firm, according to a report from Richard J. Condon, the special commissioner of investigation for the city schools.

An idea:

But maybe it should just stop with the consultants all together? In the light of this latest development, Stringer has been on a press rampage regarding the massive amounts of cash the city is spending on education consultants while threatening to fire teachers. According to Stringer the DOE's spending on outside consultants soared 455% from 2004 to 2012, rising from $177 million to $982.3 million.

Consultant spending rose 455% in 8 years.

Good Idea. No more consultants. Keep the 4,100 teachers who are being fired.

Problem solved.