This proposed $1.25 BILLION DOE technology contract is to be voted on next week by the PEP but is only briefly described here: http://tinyurl.com/q7c986z. This is yet another indication that the enhanced financial
transparency promised by the new administration has not been achieved -- along with the DOE's decision to close School Leadership Team meetings to the public, about which we've been forced to intervene in court. Thanks to the Public Advocate Tish James and CM Dromm for taking this issue on.
Updaate: The unconvincing response from Ursula Ramirez, chief of staff to Chancellor Farina, dated Feb.23 is posted here.
If you'd like to write to the members of the PEP expressing your concerns, their emails are here:
fbaptiste@schools.nyc.gov , ecleveland@schools.nyc.gov,
nfruchter@schools.nyc.gov,
vleung@schools.nyc.gov, lpodvesker@schools.nyc.gov, rpowell@bronxbp.nyc.gov,
rreffkin@schools.nyc.gov, lzingmond@schools.nyc.gov, ICarmignani@schools.nyc.gov, ddillingham@schools.nyc.gov, kpaynehanks@schools.nyc.gov,
mzorrillaaristy@schools.nyc.gov
February 18, 2015
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
Vanessa Leung, Chair
Department of Education Panel
for Educational Policy
52 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
Robert Powell, Chair
Department of Education
Committee on Contracts
65 Court Street, 12th
Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Dear Ms. Leung and Mr. Powell:
We are writing to express our
concern about the lack of transparency around spending and contracts at the Department
of Education (DOE). It has come to our attention that on February 25th,
2015, the DOE Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) will vote on a five year
contract for IT services totaling almost $1.25 billion, and almost no
information has been provided about the contract.
It is not secret that the DOE
has a deplorable record when it comes to issuing technology contracts. Millions
of dollars have been sacrificed due to mismanagement, waste, and corruption. It
is shocking that the DOE thinks it is acceptable to vote on another contract
without full disclosure and vetting available to the community, elected
officials, and the public at large.
The contract in question is for
Custom Computer Specialists to provide IT networking hardware and installation
services at $224.8 million per year. This little amount of information was
posted on the DOE website. However, no information has been provided about the particulars
of the contract, whether it was competitively bid, or what investigations the
DOE may have done concerning the record and/or background of this company.
DOE officials have stated that PEP
members receive more documentation for its contracts five to six days before
the vote, but this information is only posted to the public one business day
before the vote. Even this promise of limited transparency is false. For the
most recent vote on January 29th, information on the contracts was
not posted until several days after. We are calling on the DOE to post the full
documentation for all contracts at least ten days before the vote –
at the same time as the list of contracts is made public.
Simply put: transparency and
accountability must be the bedrock of any contracts issued using public money.
We are also calling on the DOE to
make public the full documentation and information for the Custom Computer
Specialists contract as soon as possible. If the DOE
refuses, we urge you – as appointees whose role is to represent the interests
of the public – to make this information available as soon as you receive
it.
Sincerely,
Letitia James
Public Advocate for the City of
New York
Danny Dromm
Councilmember, Chair of the NYC
Council Education Committee
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director, Class Size Matters
Cc: DOE Chancellor Carmen FariƱa
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