The District of Columbia’s troubled “nonpublic” tuition program overspent its budget by 70 percent — paying out $59 million more than expected in fiscal 2007 — and city officials are scrambling to pull money from other programs to close the gap, The Examiner has learned.
Then-schools chief Clifford B. Janey Jr. budgeted $86 million to send special education students to outside schools in fiscal 2007. According to budget records, officials actually spent $145 million.
The city has plundered tens of millions of dollars from other programs to keep up with the spiraling costs, but is still short about $14 million, records show.
Trying to make up the difference, Mayor Adrian Fenty has put a halt on paying nearly $5 million toward the city’s debt, funneling it instead toward covering the special education deficit, the document shows. The mayor slipped the emergency measure past the District Council in a “passive review” that took effect Friday.
The shuffling took effect despite concerns from the council’s budget director, who wrote to ask Fenty where the money went and why it was necessary, according to the budget document.
It’s not clear where the rest of the money is coming from.
Fenty spokeswoman Carrie Brooks did not respond to requests for comment.
The Examiner has written extensively on the special education system, in which hundreds of millions of dollars are thrown around to ship children to outside schools from Colorado to Florida with little regard for the students’ health or safety.
State Superintendent Deborah Gist, whose agency took control over the special education system this month, said she is “disturbed by the amount of dollars spent on payments to nonpublic schools” and has promised to make the collapsing system her top reform priority.
Fenty has had budget troubles of his own since taking over the schools. Although he promised to stick to his $1 billion budget, Fenty earlier this month asked for an extra $81 million. He has also called for overhauling the law he drafted that gave him control of the schools.
– Examiner Staff writer Michael Neibauer contributed to this report.
Got a tip on the D.C. special education system? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or e-mail [email protected].
