Klein Defends Plan
Consultant Bus-ted In School Fiasco

By MEREDITH KOLODNER and GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein continued to defend the implementation of new bus routes at a Feb. 2 press conference, even as Department of Education officials faced an onslaught of criticism for leaving hundreds of schoolchildren stranded around the five boroughs.

JOEL I. KLEIN: Rouses parents' wrath.

Speaking to reporters in the DOE's Tweed Courthouse headquarters, Mr. Klein conceded that numerous glitches plagued the reconfiguration plan, which figures to save the city approximately $12 million a year.

Won't Fault Consultants

But he refused to admit the reconfiguration recommendation - made by a private firm that was handed a no-bid contract by the DOE last summer - was ill-advised.

"There are things we should have done better," said Mr. Klein. "But I'm sure parents would rather see the money go to books and Teachers rather than phantom bus seats."

The Chancellor stood by the DOE's decision to award Alvarez & Marsal, a private "turn-around" company, a non-competitive contract worth $17 million to identify possible cost-cutting measures within the school system.

BETSY GOTBAUM: Cancel the contract.

The firm had done two previous audits for the department while paid by a nonprofit, the Fund for Public Schools, which is chaired by the Chancellor. A DOE official at that time said A & M's takeover of the St. Louis school system's finances in 2003 rendered it uniquely qualified to consult on a similar plan in the city.

Parents Outraged

"It was a no-bid contract for a good reason," Mr. Klein asserted. "They had worked with us before and they had a good track record."

DOE officials spent most of last week scrambling to answer irate phone calls from parents whose children were denied bus service or told they'd have to take lengthy routes that require multiple transfers.

The chaos broke out after the DOE, with minimal notice to families and school supervisors, implemented an A & M plan that abruptly dropped 116 bus routes from the city schedule just a few weeks into the winter semester.

At a press conference held Feb. 1, Kathleen Grimm, DOE's Deputy Chancellor for Finance, said things had "improved" but acknowledged the agency "still had some work to do."

A Not-So-Fine Mess

The changes went into effect Jan. 29, and drew almost 25,000 calls to a hotline from parents by Feb. 1. Parents complained about a variety of problems, including waiting at stops that had been stricken from a route while buses still went down the street.

Some parents took it upon themselves to place their children on the buses despite being told it wasn't allowed, and others made alternate arrangements after being informed their child would have to take the subway.

The most glaring error involved siblings who attended the same schools, but in several instances were assigned to different types of transportation.

By midweek a few bus routes had been restored and the DOE had promised to reassess the plan to make sure no child in need would be denied service. But several elected officials and various advocacy groups continued to call for greater oversight into how the DOE awarded its no-bid consultancy contracts.

Robert Jackson, chair of the City Council Education Committee, indicated he would be holding hearings. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said the DOE should terminate its contract with A & M.

State Senator Carl Kruger, a Brooklyn Democrat, blasted the DOE for following a recommendation that said service should be withheld from thousands of children because they don't live within a quarter-mile of a school bus stop.

"It's a Catch-22," he said in a written statement. "They're saying you can't take the bus because it's too far from your home. But the only reason the bus is too far from your home is that the city took the route away."