A pair of consulting firms now auditing the finances and administration of the troubled D.C. Public Schools could be retained to implement the recommendations that emerge from their final reports, Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee said this week.
“I think that it’s important when you have consultants come in that they not just make recommendations and those recommendations are put in a binder and stuffed on a shelf somewhere,” Rhee said Monday, “but that they’re actually realized and we receive some of the savings that they’ve identified. I think to the extent that we can work in partnership with them for a longer amount of time the likelihood of that happening would certainly go up.”
One of the companies, Alvarez & Marsal, has a penchant for slashing and burning to reduce costs and turn the fortunes of its clients, including municipal school systems and Fortune 500 behemoths, around. The other firm, McKinsey & Co., is examining DCPS central administration, which many consider bloated and in dire need of streamlining.
Rhee, who placed a hiring freeze on central administration staff weeks ago, said layoffs “may be a part” of the ultimate solution as the city struggles to get a handle on its $1 billion school budget.
The two auditors are being paid nearly $4 million in private funds for four months of work, the final results of which are expected within weeks. Rhee said she has started talks with the firms to perhaps extend their stays.
An Alvarez & Marsal spokeswoman said the firm will complete its analysis by the end of August, but it would be inappropriate to comment on any discussions with the chancellor.
“We have given them a very clear charge … that we have a strong priority on really trying to make the central office more efficient and more streamlined so that we can push more money down to the schools,” Rhee said.
