Bobb Defends Turnaround Teams Efforts

In Saturday’s edition of the Detroit Free Press, stat appointed Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit Public Schools wrote an article entitled, “DPS story an inaccurate portrayal of turnaround.” In the article, Bobb begins by saying, “The Oct. 10 story regarding Detroit Public Schools' use of consultants ("Pricey consultants raise questions on DPS budget") is filled with inaccuracies and disingenuously portrays our turnaround team's efforts. It is simply untrue that $40 million has been "set aside ... to pay for consulting fees ... for a turnaround team" I have assembled to radically correct the dangerous course on which this city's school system had been heading.”

Bobb goes on to say, “Contracts reviewed again this week by the Office of the Auditor General -- and made available to the Free Press -- total $4.9 million, not the $40 million alleged in the article. The work of the teams brought in to transform DPS systems has saved tens of millions of dollars, funds that can be used to reduce our long-term deficit and place more resources in the classroom, and that exceed many times over the cost for the turnaround team. On health care alone, by removing 3,903 illegal dependents from our health care rolls we are saving $13.3 million, and through restructuring we will save an additional $16.1 million. On Medicaid billings, we anticipate receiving $13 million or more, in comparison with $5 million collected annually in previous years. Reductions in taxicab services and reorganizing yellow bus routes will save us $7.6 million. Functional reviews of special education services have saved $15 million. Haircuts taken by vendors seeking past due payments have saved $6.9 million. We discovered $3.4 million in overbillings and miscalculated fees from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. We are proud of our work to rein in spending, establish controls, create audits and uncover cases of waste, fraud, abuse and illegal activity.”

Then Bobb went on to say, “It is true that, outside of the emergency financial manager's immediate turnaround team, there is indeed a line item in the district's budget that sets aside funds for contracted services. The work of the turnaround team and normal contracted services should not be confused. We are, in fact, pursuing opportunities for managed competition, as has been done in the past. In areas such as student transportation and facility operation and maintenance, if it can be proven that our employees can perform this work better and at lower costs, then employees will do the work. If it is shown to be better to bring in private firms, we will do so.”

Within the article, Bobb said, “The reference to Kevin Clinton, a DPS employee who fills a position that had previously existed, fails to note his achievements to make $16 million in unspent Title I funds available for summer school programs and his efforts to help DPS avoid returning an additional $89 million in federal aid. The article fails to note that Angela Joyner, the DPS budget director, fills roles previously held by two full-time administrators. The article also fails to mention that 40% of one consultant contract has been covered by the prestigious Broad Foundation. In the 227 days that we have been on the ground, we continue to root out waste, fraud and abuse, save tens of millions of dollars and transform this district into one filled with centers of excellence at every school in every neighborhood. Inaccurate reporting, while it does not slow our efforts one minute, does a disservice to your readers who deserve to know the whole story.
Now the Detroit Free Press stands by its story and it should because let’s be fair, Robert Bobb and his team has done some good things for the district in terms of trying to fight corruption to some degree. Still, while Bobb and his team have done good things, they have done some questionable things as well and for any news outlet or the community to ignore it than it would be an injustice to all of us. For instance, what Bobb doesn’t address in his rebuttal to the Free Press is the fact that the deficit-ridden district has leased riverfront apartments for consultants, as well as paid $400 a week per person for food in addition to airfare to fly some out of town for weekends, according to invoices and school officials. Some of the consultants come from Washington, D.C., and Cleveland -- cities where Bobb and his top academic consultant previously worked.

While Bobb tries to make it seem as if the Free Press was getting his turnaround team confused with the daily staff that is permanent in Detroit however in the Free Press article written by Chastity Pratt-Dawsey, she clearly states that Bobb is set to spend $40 million on advisors for DPS meaning he hasn’t spent all of it yet. Also Bobb didn’t deny that such funds have been set aside either and in fact he somewhat says it is in this statement, “It is true that, outside of the emergency financial manager's immediate turnaround team, there is indeed a line item in the district's budget that sets aside funds for contracted services.” So clearly the Free Press was alluding to this issue and in no way was trying to make it seem as if the turnaround team and normal contracted services were the same.

The fact is that some of the contracts given out are not necessary normal whatsoever. Bobb’s attempt at addressing the Free Press allegations didn’t take into account the allegations regarding the fact that after clearing out hundreds of administrators from the historically management-heavy schools system, Bobb has approved no-bid contracts to dozens of out-of-town contractors and firms to lead several departments. The short-term troubleshooters are budgeted to cost $38.8 million this year -- twice the cost of the administrators who were released from those jobs, according to documents obtained by the Free Press. Their contracts also include payments for expenses such as airline tickets, hotels, rental cars, meals, taxis, parking and office supplies. Last year, the district spent about $8.5 million on outside consultants, records show.

Bobb tries instead to focus on the fact that the consultants will more than pay for themselves. In the past six months, the contractors have identified about $20 million in savings so far in the areas of health care, transportation and overdue vendor payments, according to a statement the district released Friday. About $6.5 million has been saved so far because of layoffs. The DPS consulting bills could balloon to $94 million because an additional $54 million is budgeted to hire a private company to run facilities maintenance. "The fact of the matter is that DPS staff, as it was constructed, did not have the capacity to effectively operate a school district," DPS spokesman Steve Wasko said by e-mail Friday. "Children and parents have been suffering the pain of a grossly mismanaged school district. The cost of consultants are virtually a nonissue when compared to the enormous problems DPS faced."

Maybe that explains why in the first 3 months of the school year the district has overspent by $21 million already, there goes that $20 million in savings by Bobb’s contractors and consultants. In fact at the end of the 2008-09 school year, Bobb eliminated about 72% of the curriculum and instruction department -- about 181 people, including 11 department heads. Those cuts are to save DPS about $16 million a year, Bobb announced this summer. For now, vendors and consultants with connections to Bobb and the chief academic accountability auditor, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, run major departments. For example, Kevin Clinton, the executive director of the Department of State and Federal Programs for DPS, and Bobb worked together for Washington, D.C., and for the city's school district. Clinton was a fiscal officer for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for Washington, D.C., and Bobb was the state school board president.

DPS budget director Angela Joyner and Bobb worked together in Oakland, Calif., when he was city administrator and she was a budget analyst and again in Washington when he was on the state board and she was the district's budget director. Byrd-Bennett, a former chief executive officer of Cleveland's public school system, brought with her at least six consultants who are collectively being paid more than $700,000 for about nine months of work. Their addresses were redacted on the contracts obtained by the Free Press, but public records confirm they have worked with Byrd-Bennett in Cleveland or New York. Her office has already overspent by $40,000 its $754,000 budget for consultants, according to DPS data.

Byrd-Bennett's $176,828 contract spans from May 11 to March 2. She also has a personal driver -- an armed DPS police officer. One of the more controversial contracts was given to the Philadelphia-based PFM Group, which used to employ Bobb as a senior managing consultant. PFM received a $972,000 no-bid contract to help develop a new financial plan for DPS, according to officials. The contract with DPS was not made available, however, despite a Free Press request under the Freedom of Information Act. Bobb doesn’t address any of the overspending whatsoever in terms of Bennett’s contract and office. In fact Bobb doesn’t address why a chief academic accountability auditor needs her own personal security, I have never heard of such security for someone in academics like that. Nonetheless Bobb tried to say that Kevin Clinton, a DPS employee who fills a position that had previously existed, says the Free Press fails to note his achievements to make $16 million in unspent Title I funds available for summer school programs and his efforts to help DPS avoid returning an additional $89 million in federal aid.

However what Bobb doesn’t mention is what actual academic achievement was achieved during the summer school academies and if I am not mistaken I thought Bobb asked the State’s Superintendent for permission to use Title 1 funds to fund summer school academies so while it fine to say Clinton made those funds available and saved the district from returning an additional $89 million in federal aid, it is unclear what accomplishments if any were achieved in summer school academies across the district. Bobb also tried to say the article fails to note that Angela Joyner, the DPS budget director, fills roles previously held by two full-time administrators. The article also fails to mention that 40% of one consultant contract has been covered by the prestigious Broad Foundation. Still Bobb avoids the fact that the Free Press wasn’t mentioning Clinton or Joyner and what they did but more their connections to Bobb or Byrd-Bennett and how they got their contracts or jobs in the district now.

Still Bobb’s article failed to answer why Comprehensive Financial Management Consultants, with an office in Southfield, sent DPS bills for $493,325 for dozens of auditors to work for one month to reconcile the schools' financial records and bank deposits. Is that the fair value market rate for such audits and how many audits were exactly performed that justifies paying a company nearly a half a million dollars for just one month’s worth of work. Bobb also didn’t address why the Portolan Group, based in Berkeley, Calif., was contracted to fill the role of chief operations officer to assess and make recommendations about the performance of facilities and food services. The firm was to be paid $193,800 for 1,160 employee hours. The dismissed chief of facilities and food services had earned $127,906 a year plus benefits. In an amendment to the contract, the company will be paid an additional $196,700 from Aug. 1 to March 1 for one full-time executive and other part-time staff to work one to two weeks per month.

Bobb’s article fails to address why the New York-based firm Alvarez & Marsal was contracted at $500,000 -- including travel and lodging -- for a four-month period to review special education services, then design and implement an improvement plan which hasn’t been made public to my knowledge. Bobb doesn’t explain why Fanning Howey Associates, an architectural firm in Alexandria, Va., is contracted for $647,150 to assist in the summer construction program and long-range planning for the capital bond application to the state. In fact the summer construction throughout the district should be questioned when people tell me some schools lockers look like keys on a piano meaning some lockers are missing and other schools have new paint jobs but graffiti already been seen on walls, lockers and desks in these schools.

Still Bobb’s article to try to fight back for the district is not very transparent and doesn’t address the fact that Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio & Associates, PC, of Washington, D.C., have billed the district $333,606 for 2 1/2 months of financial consulting, including about $45,000 in travel expenses for nine workers and why McCrary Security Consultants of Florissant, Mo., billed DPS $58,960 for two consultants working two weeks to assess the DPS security department, including expenses. Afterward, a contract was signed for $53,600 a month, plus $5,360 for expenses for the two experts to work as needed through October. These type of contracts and amounts are a lot and make me wonder how is that possible especially considering the fact if you contracted a group to assess DPS security at those large amounts than why do we still have lazy security who don’t clear halls or campuses.

Anytime someone drives past a high school and see youth outside before 2:30p.m., it’s a problem. Anytime you go to a high school and kids are in the hallways before bell time and are hovered around the security booth, it’s a problem. Therefore while I am proud to say Bobb has done some good things for the district and much needed things, he still avoids critical questions that were raised by the Free Press article. While Bobb has been more transparent than previous school superintendents and the school boards, he still is not transparent enough with the DPS budget and where the shortfalls lay as well as how the district overspent in the first 3 months of the school year and the month of October is not even over yet. There are so many questions that Bobb failed to address in his first article to a major news paper in the city and it is clear that he would rather highlight things the public already knows than to address allegations of putting aside money for contractors and paying high no-bid contracts to consultants that are not delivering ordinary services when people are employed to those services right now.

Bobb would have gained my respect even more if he had of addressed many of the contractual issues that the Free Press addressed as well as the connections between many of the companies getting the large contracts. Bobb would have made his case a whole lot better if he just had addressed the issues that Free Press article are accusing the district and Bobb of. However Bobb and my beloved school district continue to hide from the hard hitting questions that seem to always plague DPS such as how contracts are being given out, nepotism, overspending and full transparency of the facts. If this continues than Bobb’s reign as EFM is no better than other previous boards or superintendents because those are the pressing issues that have plagued DPS and have resulted in a budget that is out of control and our children failing at a rate that makes me angry and should make everyone else angry. Accountability begins at the top first and it is clear that while Bobb and his team have done good things, they still have many questions to answer and they missed a golden opportunity to do so.