Did the School District create 8 million slush fund for Ackerman?

Notebook writer Helen Gym points out on Young Philly Politics that the Districts budget sets aside $8M in contracts that don't need School Reform Commission approval.

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Did the School District create 8 million slush fund for Ackerman?

POSTED: Friday, June 10, 2011, 1:56 PM
Filed Under: News | Schools

Notebook writer Helen Gym points out on Young Philly Politics that the Districts budget sets aside $8M in contracts that don't need School Reform Commission approval — a scenario that, she argues, gives Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman non-transparent powers over school funds, despite the recent Memorandum of Understanding signed between the District and the city administration.

Writes Gym:

It’s pretty stunning to me that the District continues unchallenged with this type of behavior and rhetoric. No one wants to micromanage, but $8 million is an amount equal to the base salaries of more than 100 teachers. In a week where thousands of District employees lost their jobs, it's hard to imagine the District would have the decency to ask for an $8 million set aside without any sort of review.

One would think that the crippling deficit, a federal IRS investigation and outcries from city and state officials about the District’s poor financial management would put a stop to such shenanigans. But apparently not.

That's just the beginning of her critique, which goes on to list several resolutions on the docket for Monday that involve unspecified and vague contracting expenses.

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