NYSED

Leonie Haimson wrote:

http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/

Reward for the person who identifies biggest waste of money within it! Race starts now!

Dee Alpert responds

Whole thing is a waste of money.

I've followed NYSED's federal programs, and the outside independent audits of those programs, for about 2 decades now. What you can be sure of is that no matter what NYSED's approved grant application or plan says, districts will do whatever they want; NYSED will neither audit nor monitor what the districts do; if someone plops hard evidence on the Commissioner's desk that a district has committed fraud, or wasted, or misappropriated part or all of the federal funds, NYSED will do nothing about it.

Last big, thoroughly documented NYSED waste of federal funds was its Reading First program, according to USDOE OIG, and then there was the NYC Comptroller audit showing that the NYCDOE either wasted, misappropriated or committed some kind of fraud re about 85% of its entire Reading First grant. NYSED's response to the NYC Comptroller's audit? zzzzzzzzz ... still waiting. Why on earth would anyone think that RttT would be any different? All NYSED's done since the USDOE OIG's and NYC Comptroller's audits were released was to decrease the no. of auditors on its payroll. Then it claims it can't do its mandated audit and monitoring/supervision work because of a lack of auditors. RttT? Same old-same old. I guarantee it.

I'd rather not get a reward for being right. For once, re NYSED, I'd just love to be wrong. But I see nothing in the cards to make me think this time is any different.

Dee Alpert