Last week, the School Reform Commission voted to reopen its contracts with the district's unions and ask them for more concessions to make up the shortfall. Incredibly, the commission is asking city school employees to give up pay and benefits even as the district is being audited by the IRS because of questionable accounting procedures and financial practices.
According to a recent Inquirer story, the IRS has targeted 28 areas for inquiry. It's seeking "information on reimbursements for travel and meals, the use of district automobiles and credit cards, and 'checking account data for payments that are processed outside the district's general fund.' "
City officials have also expressed serious concerns about how the School District handles tax dollars. The City Controller's Office has recommended that the district be required to present a five-year financial plan to an independent accounting authority because of "material weaknesses" found in its financial statements.
Where's the money?
Of course, it doesn't take an accounting wizard to notice the district's financial mismanagement. The numbers speak for themselves.
In the 2008-09 school year, when district schools enrolled more than 169,000 students, they had an operating budget of approximately $2.75 billion. There were a plethora of athletic and after-school programs; there was full-day kindergarten; there were art and music programs; and all the teachers who wanted to work had jobs. In short, the district was able to make do.
During the 2010-11 school year, when enrollment in district schools had dropped to 162,000, the operating budget had gone up by almost half a billion dollars, to $3.2 billion.
The question is, where did the money go?
