A former District of Columbia official who resigned amid a $1.5 million campaign finance scandal has been assigned to clean up the District’s failing public schools.
Abdusalam Omer was Mayor Anthony Williams’ chief of staff until he resigned in 2001, just before he was mentioned in a D.C. inspector general’s report.
The report found that Omer and his deputy, Mark Jones, used nonprofit groups to raise $1.5 million to pay for Williams’ campaign and mayoral events. Much of the fundraising was done on the public’s time, a violation of the D.C. code.
In February, Omer, 50, was appointed the schools’ chief business operations officer. He is paid $170,000 per year.
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He has the task of cleaning up the schools’ personnel and procurement departments, which outside auditors have criticized for their chaotic management.
The District’s $1.5 billion school system is tottering. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education rated the schools “high risk” for federal funds, citing shoddy accounting practices.
Mayor Adrian Fenty has proposed taking over the schools, removing power from the Board of Education — D.C.’s oldest democratically elected public body.
As chief business officer, Omer is one of the top lieutenants to D.C. Schools Superintendent Clifford Janey.
“Dr. Omer has a seasoned understanding of the financial systems that run a school district,” Janey said in a statement e-mailed through his spokesman. “And he brings well-placed candor to the table about what it will take to turn the operations of thisschool system around.”
Omer did not respond to requests for comment.
Omer was one of Williams’ most-trusted advisers until his resignation. Williams appointed Omer as the first chief financial officer of the schools.
“I advocated for our children, assessed the finances of the schools, exposed bureaucratic inertia and did my best to support the teachers and the students,” Omer wrote in his 2001 resignation letter.
Reacting to the campaign fund controversy, Williams said Omer had made “mistakes.” When Omer resigned, Williams hailed the “passion and integrity” of his “good friend.”
In the news release announcing Omer’s appointment as schools’ chief business officer, D.C. Chief Finance Officer Natwar Gandhi — whose agency has been criticized for turning a blind eye to rampant waste and abuse in the schools — warmly welcomed Omer.
“Dr. Omer’s experience with the schools’ financial systems will be helpful as we work on improving those systems,” Gandhi said.
Anyone with information on the D.C. schools can call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956.
