DOE Bitten by Ostrich Stance

In the spring of 2006, when a Department of Education spokeswoman was asked about corruption allegations that school bus drivers had made against their union, she responded, "That's between the bus drivers and the companies ... If they were our employees, it would be a different story."

Her remarks suggested that DOE was in full ostrich mode, particularly since among those under indictment at the time in connection with the alleged corrupt practices was Matty "The Horse" Ianniello, one of the bosses of the Genovese Crime Family.

When organized crime infiltrates an industry - and the Genovese Family's involvement in the school bus system dates back to at least the 1970s - it generally has found some willing partners rather than mere victims, and it doesn't care whether they come from the labor or management side. Its confederates in labor generally wind up skunking those they're supposed to represent; the management crooks are more likely to seek to offset the cost of doing business with the mob by either passing it on to consumers or finding other ways to maximize profits.

The latter option appears to have been chosen by the bus company owners who were accused of bribing DOE Borough Supervisor Geoffrey Berger to give them longer routes, which fatten their contracts with DOE.

This scheme, which led to Mr. Berger's arrest last week based on information from two corrupt DOE inspectors and two bribe-paying company owners who cooperated with Federal investigators in hope of leniency, was uncovered in the course of a probe of organized crime's role in Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union. It was not spelled out just how much Mr. Berger allegedly received in return for handing out the choice routes, but the two inspectors who provided evidence against him each received at least $100,000 in payoffs from bus companies.

Mr. Ianniello pleaded guilty last year to corruptly influencing Local 1181, as did a longtime friend of his who held the union's second-ranking position; the deposed president of the local is scheduled to go on trial next month.

None of them had any apparent hand in the alleged monkey business that led to Mr. Berger's indictment. Which means it is time for DOE to take its head out of the sand and realize that corruption demands its attention regardless of whether it is the direct employer or is subcontracting the work to somebody else. Trying to draw a line as to which corruption is within your jurisdiction doesn't work if those involved in it know no boundaries when it comes to using payoffs to pump up their income.