When D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi reported to the D.C. Council in June that there were sufficient funds in the public schools 2010 and 2011 budgets to cover the cost of the newly negotiated teachers contract, he may have miscalculated. The DCPS fiscal 2011 budget for that category now appears to be at least $8 million short, according to knowledgeable city hall sources. When the city’s chief calculator can’t calculate accurately, we’re in deep trouble.
On June 21, in a statement to the council, Gandhi wrote “funds are sufficient in FY 2010 through 2013 … to implement the collective bargaining agreement.” He projected cost for salaries and benefits from 2010 through 2013 at $1.4 billion. Specifically, in fiscal 2011, which began Oct. 1, he said there was $350.7 million available, including $311 million for salaries and benefits, $12.7 from other adjustments and $27 million in federal payments.
This revelation of a shortfall comes days after I wrote about other fiscal bobbles at the DCPS perpetrated by its chief finance officer, George Dines, and his staff of 52 employees — all of whom work for Gandhi.
Dines informed the schools chancellor on Sept. 29 she had a surplus of $4 million for the end of fiscal 2010. He soon reversed himself, announcing a deficit of more than $11 million and advising to borrow from the 2011 budget.
Gandhi and his team are expected to submit a request this week to the council to move around more than $180 million in the schools 2011 budget. Those funds will cover anticipated overspending in special education of $75 million, which had been the only area where DCPS was thought to have a problem.
Dines and Gandhi also will use the reprogrammed funds to cover $15 million in overspending at DCPS during fiscal 2010, which ended Sept. 30. To cover that borrowing, reductions will be made in other areas of the schools budget. Adding to the madness, Dines has not claimed as much as $20 million in federal funds, sources said.
Some government insiders worry DCPS’ fiscal woes, prompted by the CFO’s incompetence, could hamper interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s ability to advance education reforms. “She can’t run the show if she doesn’t know how much money she has from one day to the next,” said a city hall source.
Henderson couldn’t be reached for comment. But Frederick Lewis, a DCPS spokesman, said she’s “deferring questions relative to the budget and fiscal certification of the WTU contract to the CFO.”
Gandhi also could not be reached.
No doubt Gandhi will dismiss the problem, noting the city has a budget of more than $10 billion; the $8 million miscalculation in teachers’ pay is a small error. That kind of response underscores his self-portrait of “just a bean counter” — except he isn’t counting beans. Those are taxpayers’ dollars and shouldn’t be wasted or mismanaged.
