The District of Columbia’s failing schools will be subject to an audit designed to find possible criminal activity, Board of Education President Robert Bobb told The Examiner.
Bobb said that he is already vetting forensic accountants to tackle the job. It will be the first time in memory that the District of Columbia’s failing schools will have been investigated by accountants and auditors trained to look for criminal enterprises in a bureaucracy.
“It needs to be done and done quickly by outside, independent minds,” Bobb told The Examiner in a phone interview.
The $1.3 billion schools are teetering. Critical agencies like the department of special education are way over budget, the schools have been rated “high risk” for federal funding because of their shoddy accounting practices, and the bureaucracy is riddled with cronyism and corruption.
Bobb, D.C.’s former city administrator, ran for the board presidency promising to clean up the schools. He’s now immersed in a battle with Mayor Adrian Fenty, who wants to take control of the schools from the board.
But Bobb said his call for a forensic audit has little to do with the fight with the mayor.
“I’m surprised that the business practices have the depth of problems that exist,” Bobb said. “Thereneeds to be an organization review. And it doesn’t matter if the mayor takes over or not.”
The schools also must overhaul their curricula to create a permanent academic system and conduct top-to-bottom employee evaluations — from janitors to the superintendent, Bobb said.
“Do you have the people who have the heart, soul and minds who can support the reforms?” Bobb said. “In some instances we do. In most, we do not.”
Spokesman John White, who represents schools Superintendent Clifford Janey, said that a forensic audit hadn’t been conducted on the schools at least since before Janey took over in 2004. He refused further comment.
Anyone with information on the city’s schools can call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956.
