Taking on the notoriously inept District of Columbia Public Schools bureaucracy is like trying to pick up a rattlesnake, so Mayor Adrian Fenty is to be commended for making education reform the top priority of his first 100 days in office. But it’s what happens during the next 100 days that will largely determine whether he ultimately succeeds.
During an editorial board meeting with The Examiner last week, the mayor said he will ordera forensic audit of school finances once the D.C. Council formally approves his proposal to put the school system under direct management control of his office. A forensic audit is an in-depth look at every nook and cranny of an organization’s spending in search of evidence of possible fraud. The city currently spends nearly $20,000 per student, the most of any state-level jurisdiction in the country. Most of that $20,000 goes into somebody’s pocket instead of into local classrooms. A forensic audit done by a reputable, independent, outside firm should identify where all the money is going. With audit results in hand, the mayor must then steel his resolve for the venomous battle ahead.
It will take an extraordinary effort to turn around a school system that has the worst academic results in the nation while sitting on a backlog of almost 13,000 maintenance orders. Fixing D.C. schools simply can’t be done with the same people who let things get so bad in the first place. Those who are merely incompetent must be fired. But if the audit uncovers evidence of fraud or other corruption — as it surely will — Fenty must demand the culprits be prosecuted to the full extent of the law as a public example that such behavior will not be tolerated by his administration. Anything less will give the snakes hope of slithering away unscathed.
Setting the bar high will give Fenty the moral authority to go after the equally mismanaged Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (“DCRA is like the schools without the kids,” he told us) and the city’s Office of Contracting and Procurement. In addition to DCPS, Fenty says, these two city agencies are in “the worst shape” and “have the farthest to go.” To prevent this sorry state of affairs from recurring, the mayor should move aggressively to keep his promise to post all District government’s spending and contracts on the Internet. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
The mayor dares to take full responsibility whenthe buck inevitably stops at his desk. He needs to know that every District resident who is fed up with municipal mediocrity will be there to cheer him on until the job is finished.
