Stringer hits budget ‘boondoggle’

THE CITY’S top fiscal watchdog ripped wasteful spending at the Education and Correction departments.

“This budget is way, way high,” Controller Scott Stringer said on the John Catsimatidis AM 970 radio show Sunday.

In scathing comments, he slammed spending on top education officials.

“That Department of Education is a spending boondoggle,” he said. “They spent 24% of the money on administrators instead of teachers, instead of resources into the classroom.”

The de Blasio administration spent an added $4 billion this year, in part due to boosted city revenue.

“That’s something I’m very concerned about,” Stringer said. “We can’t just spend wildly.”

In February, Stringer created an “Agency Watch List” to identify questionable spending. Bigticket items included $291 million for the Department of Education and $1.33 billion for the Department of Correction.

The de Blasio administration defended the budget.

“It’s our job to provide for New Yorkers, which we’ve done responsibly,” said spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein. “Under Mayor de Blasio, New York City has seen an unprecedented level of reserves and we have found $2.1 billion in savings just this year.”