Chancellor’s First Hurdle: Trimming the Fat at DOE
Re “Dept. of Ed. goes on a $10 billion bloat trip” (Dec. 26), the conclusion is inescapable that the purpose for enormously increasing Department of Education spending in past decades has been to employ a burgeoning and entitled bureaucracy, rather than to properly educate children.
While the budget has increased exponentially, over $10 billion in the last seven years alone, the number of students has decreased. Reading and math levels and test scores have not improved much either.
A spokesperson says that DOE has “put students first,” but the facts show exactly the opposite. It will be up to the new schools chancellor, David Banks, to right the ship, and the course seems clear.
Marc E. Kasowitz
Manhattan
I don’t think your front page headline “Fat Educats” will come as a surprise to many.
How was it possible for Mayor de Blasio to be elected and then reelected? All with the help of the DOE staffers and their big bucks.
Of course, in turn he has been extremely generous to them with raises and many new hirings, which give new meaning to the word “bloated.” Will this never stop?
Bunny Abraham
Manhattan
Education is imperative to succeed in the global economy. Under Mayor de Blasio, it appears to have been a political patronage boondoggle.
This waste of resources created a bureaucracy that failed the students of the city, which was also a contributing factor in the middleclass exodus.
With high immigrant enrollment, New York City’s education system has to be a foundation for successful integration into American society.
Safety and education are two critical responsibilities for local governments — de Blasio failed on both. Ed Houlihan
Ridgewood, NJ
If anybody expects new Schools Chancellor David Banks to change the culture of the DOE, don’t hold your breath.
The last thing a bureaucrat will do is fire another bureaucrat. The bloated DOE will get fatter, not leaner.
Charlie Honadel
Venice, Fla.