Dollars down the drain

Examples of dubious spending and waste by the city Department of Education: $754.2M: Renewal Program for struggling schools $356M: Failure to claim 2012-14 federal special-ed reimbursements* $350M: Noncompetitive contracts $347M: Internet upgrades, many unsatisfactory, with no project plans or budgets* $200M: Purchases found in an audit, 1,800 missing computers and 400 unopened laptops* $100M/YR: Absent Teacher Reserve, a pool of unassigned educators $80M: Faulty student-performance data system $67M: Botched special-ed computer system