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NYT story: digging a bit deeper

The Roosevelt Union Free School District on Long Island spends around $10,500 per student, more than $2000 above the state average.  For special ed students, they spend (hold on to your hat) nearly $32,000 per pupil, 80% more than the statewide average. 

An acquaintance who grew up on Long Island said Roosevelt is infamous for being the worst district in the area, and the numbers reflect it.  Test scores are abysmal.  Based on this, the 2004 graduation rate was 48 percent.  So in that light, maybe this isn’t such a surprise after all:

Four years after taking over the failing Roosevelt schools on Long Island, state officials released an audit yesterday criticizing the school district’s management for continuing fiscal irregularities, including paying for a $6,000 trip to Argentina and the South Pole.

Other issues raised in the audit included a lack of oversight by a state-appointed local board, a two-year delay in a school aid payment of $120,000 because of late paperwork, failure to follow bidding and contract approval procedures, the lack of a textbook inventory, the storage of blank checks in unsecured places and lax procedures under the former treasurer, who has been replaced.

In a telephone interview, the current superintendent, Ronald O. Ross, generally agreed with the findings of the audit. Many of its 62 recommendations have already been carried out and the rest will be, he said. Part of the period covered by the audit preceded his arrival, and he attributed many of the mistakes to incompetent aides he had since removed.

The audit questioned trips arranged by Mr. Ross and a previous superintendent. The trip to Argentina, scheduled by Mr. Ross through a national group of superintendents, was what the audit called a 13-day "professional development" conference that included a cruise to the Antarctic. Though the trip was canceled, the $6,010 cost was not refunded. The audit questioned the trip’s "reasonableness and necessity."

What gave us pause, though, was this:

Mr. Ross rejected criticism of the foreign trips.

"Yes, I need time off, and I might need to go not only to the South Pole but also to the North Pole," Mr. Ross said. What he learns on such trips benefits students back home, he said. The audit claimed that Mr. Ross canceled the Argentina trip because of "the potential for opposition within the community." But he denied that, saying he was simply too busy to go. "Why would I let some old biddies in the community stop me?" he said.

Mr. Ross criticized Newsday, which reported the audit yesterday, saying it was leaked to discredit him in "a political hatchet job."

"We started teaching Chinese in the first grade, our choir performed at Carnegie Hall, the students put on an event for Darfur, we entered the robotics competition, we have a cosmic ray detector built by students, we added Advanced Placement classes in high school and we started a chess team and it came up second to Jericho," Mr. Ross said. "But no one is talking about any of those things. Instead, it’s focusing on a trip I didn’t even take." (emphasis added)

Mr. Ross.  Public schools demand more accountability for charter schools and voucher schools–but when said accountability is applied to public schools, it becomes a "political hatchet job"?  And if you’re not willing to answer to "some old biddies in the community", would it be fair to conclude that, no, you’re really not accountable to the public? 

One last thought.  The in-state tuition for CUNY-Brooklyn College is $4,353.  For the amount this district is spending per pupil, you could send two kids to college.  Congratulations, New York: your tax dollars at work!