MS 226 Principal Rushell White Key Words: Checks From Ruben Wills

Under the business model for education, Rushell White, Principal of MS 226, can take all the money she wants from Ruben Wills, and do whatever she wants with it.

Ruben Wills and Rushell White

The job of a principal in New York City is to be a CEO, a Chief Executive Officer. Unfortunately, there is no Board of Directors to oversee what happens right, or wrong. That is the mistake that has changed the face of education in America, and certainly New York City. 

Rushell White

Principals have too much unchecked power. The Principal's Union, CSA, defends the rights of their members to have total power over their school.

When I reported the $225,000 missing grant money at PS 6 (Carmen Farina was Principal) from the Annenberg Challenge For the Arts,  to Annenberg in or about 2001, their final conclusion after all the grants had been assessed, was that the money should not have been given to principals without safeguards for its' use. Without safeguards in place, too many principals did not use the money correctly, as the grant required.

That's the problem.  Principals have unilateral power. And, without the necessary safeguards for using money within the school, the possibility that nefarious actions may occur is unsurprisingly high.

In 2004, I published the letters from the UFT on the Special Education Mess, with children not getting the services they needed. Special education remains a mess, and I keep publishing the missing services and money on my blogs and website Parentadvocates.org. I still represent children and their parents at Impartial Hearings. No one at the DOE is fixing anything, and special education teachers are getting hit with 3020-a. Alot of them.

See NYC UFT Gives an Overview of the 'Special Education Mess'

The Checks

A picture is worth a thousand words.

When you enter MS 226, you quickly see huge pictures of checks on the wall. The checks -  the representations of checks - are from District #28 City Council Member Ruben Wills, to MS 226 (the school is in District 27). The checks add up to $500,000, but the real amount given last year was more than $1 million.

For what? Supposedly, technology. Here is where the facts stop and guessing begins. What technology? Where is it?  No comment from the school.  In the school library, TVs and computers are missing.

A former custodian says that Wills, who makes a visit once a day to the school (wife does not come along) and White stay in the building until very late, and that there is often an officer from the nearby police precinct, NYPD precinct #106, stationed at the door. Students have reported seeing the pair kissing each other in a car early in the morning. Questions about this "affair" have not yet been answered.

There is no doubt at all that Mr. Wills is in alot of trouble right now.

Queens Councilman, Facing Criminal Charges — Doesn't Show up in Court — Or at City Hall

Already indicted City Councilman Ruben Wills busted again for filing bogus reports to hide finances: officials

Ruben Wills arrested

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS,  February 3, 2015,

LINK

An already-indicted Queens City Councilman is in fresh trouble with the law.

Ruben Wills, 46, was arrested Tuesday morning on charges he filed bogus documents with the city Conflicts of Interest Board, officials said.

The Jamaica Democrat filed a total of five bogus financial disclosure reports between 2011 and 2012 in which he concealed his extracurricular dealings, the state Attorney General’s office said.

State Attorney General EricSchneiderman said submitting phony documents “is a serious crime” that could land Wills behind bars for up to four years if convicted.

Wills has been caught in Schneiderman’s crosshairs before.

He was busted in May for allegedly stealing public campaign funds and using the cash for a pricey Louis Vuitton handbag and shopping sprees at Nordstrom and Century 21 and other locales.

He’s also accused of taking a $33,000 member item from since-convicted Sen. Shirley Huntley for his sham charity but pocketing most of it. Those charges are pending.

The $112,500-a-year pol hasn’t exactly been lighting it up at work either - the Daily News reported in December that he’d missed 27% of the City Council meetings he was supposed to attend in the year that ended June 30, the worst attendance record on the Council.

The latest charges were the result of a joint probe by the AG and the state Controller’s office.

Controller Thomas DiNapoli said Wills’ “alleged actions reveal a disdain for honest disclosure.”

Wills, 46, was arraigned Tuesday morning in Manhattan Supreme Court and pleaded not guilty. Justice Laura Ward released him without bail.

Wills’ lawyer, Randall Unger, said they’ll fight the charges - as soon as they figure out what exactly it is his client allegedly did.

“I don’t know what is is they’re accusing Mr. Wills of doing,” Unger said. "We just got the indictment — that doesn’t tell us very much. We’ll be filing motions for discovery so we can find out what it is they’re actually accusing him of.”

Ruben Wills

Queens councilman implicated by pal in pass-through scheme

By Carl Campanile and Michael Gartland

January 14, 2016 | 6:51pm

A pal of Councilman Ruben Wills implicated the Queens politician in court Thursday in a scheme to steal thousands of taxpayer dollars by ordering him to deposit and withdraw funds from a sham company.

Jelani Mills fingered Wills for the corruption after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of falsifying business records in a case brought by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Ruben Wills

The damning plea statement against Wills capped a bizarre three days that initially centered on Mills’ mysterious whereabouts.

On Tuesday, Mills was expected to enter a plea and turn on Wills but he bolted court after noon — leaving his lawyer in the lurch and Judge Barry Kron fuming.

A bench warrant was issued for Mills and he showed up in court on Wednesday and was ordered held when the judge did not buy his explanation that he left because his 9-year-old daughter had got sick at school.

On Thursday, Mills said it was Wills who urged him to set up a fictitious language translation company called Micro Targeting in a pass-through scheme to steal funds from Wills’ 2009 council campaign committee.

Mills said he filed the paperwork to incorporate Micro Targeting using a false address. He was the sole proprietor.

“At the direction of Mr. Wills, I deposited a check in the amount of $11,500 in that account, which was drawn on an account named, `Ruben Wills for New York.’ This $11,500 was not the result of money earned by Micro Targeting,” Mills, 29, said.

“I do not speak Spanish and I have never translated any campaign literature or any other documents for Micro Targeting or for Ruben Wills or his campaign committee. I have never submitted an invoice for such services to Ruben Wills or his campaign committee,” Mills said.

In November 2009, he said, Wills directed him to withdraw $2,500 from the Micro Targeting account.

“Mr. Wills directed me to give that cash to him, which I did,” Mills said.

Later, Mills said he withdrew $2,000 from the bogus firm for his own “personal use.” But the councilman objected, he said.

“Upon learning of that $2,000 withdrawal, Mr. Wills told me that the money in the Micro Targeting Chase account did not belong to me, and that I need to return $2,000 that I had withdrawn,” he said.

Wills’ attorney Steve Zissou dismissed Mills’ statement as a desperate “lie.”

“It’s not a surprise that someone in jail would lie to get out of jail,” he said. “Some people will say anything to get out of jail — Jelani included,” Zissou said.

The duo was accused of scamming the city Campaign Finance Board by accepting public matching funds to pay Micro Targeting for helping with Wills’ failed 2009 City Council bid.

The indictment also alleged that Wills stole more than $30,000 in state grants sent to a nonprofit he founded New York 4 Life. He is charged with using the tainted cash for a shameless shopping spree where he purchase items at Macy’s, Nordstrom’s and Century 21 — including a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag.

As part of the plea settlement, Schneiderman’s office is recommending that Mills be sentenced to one year’s probation and perform 10 days of community service.

Note from Betsy:
Rushell White has been seen carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag, but she has told no one where she got it. Everyone is wondering....

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, The NYC Public Voice

NY City Councilman Ruben Wills is Convicted of Public Corruption, Sentencing is August 10, 2017

Well, finally Ruben Wills has been convicted. I wonder what MS226 Principal Rushell White thinks of this? And, does she have the $750 Louis Vuitton handbag?

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials

City Councilman Convicted of Stealing Thousands in Public Funds

Ruben Wills is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 10. He faces up to seven years in prison.

Queens Councilman Ruben Wills found guilty of stealing over $30G in taxpayer money

Queens Councilman Ruben Wills was convicted Thursday of five counts against him in a corruption trial, which included charges of stealing more than $30,000 in taxpayer money.

Wills, who was accused of using the money to buy food, clothes, gas and a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag, buried his head in his hands as the jury read its verdict at the end of an 11-day trial in Queens Criminal Court.

The jury found Wills guilty of one count of a scheme to defraud, two counts of grand larceny and two counts of filing a false instrument. The jury acquitted Wills on a single charge of filing false business records.

The conviction automatically expels Wills from the council.

His bio has already been removed from the council website.

"Ruben Wills' crimes were a shameful violation of the public trust," said Attorney General Schneiderman, whose office prosecuted the case. "Ruben Wills stole taxpayer dollars to buy fancy purses and clothes for himself and his friends. New Yorkers deserved better."

Prosecutors said Wills used public matching funds from his 2009 council campaign to pay $11,500 to fund a shell company created to translate and distribute campaign literature that was never given out.

The money was instead redirected to a nonprofit corporation that Wills controlled and used to make personal purchases including the handbag, which he bought at Macy's. Wills, a former state Senate staffer, also used money to shop at Nordstrom and Home Depot, officials said.

"Ruben Wills betrayed the trust of all New Yorkers when he abused his position in the State Senate to steal thousands of dollars from the hard working taxpayers of New York for his own selfish gain," said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

"Serving in elected office requires honesty and integrity and today's conviction makes clear that Ruben Wills is unfit to be a member of the City Council,"

During the trial, the black councilman and his attorney said questions from the prosecutor about a possible romance between the married Wills and his chief of staff were racially charged and out of bounds.

"It was just to muddy up Ruben to the jurors," Kevin O'Donnell told the Daily News before the verdict. "They wouldn't have done this with a white politician."

The councilman, who was elected in 2010 and indicted four years later, faces up to seven years in prison.

Ruben Wills Goes On Trial

City Councilman Ruben Wills was indicted by the attorney general’s office in 2014 for pocketing
$33,000 in grant money

If you believe the newspapers, and think that the money that is unaccounted for or in the wrong place due to Councilman Ruben Wills is due to his "carelessness", then I have a bridge to sell you.

And, Mr. Wills gave alot of money to MS 226 Principal Rushell White. What is the full story there?

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, The NYC Public Voice

Defense claims Queens Councilman Ruben Wills was not stealing government money — he was just 'careless'

A city councilman was careless with his bookkeeping - not stealing over $30,000 in taxpayer funds and grant money for two non-profits, according to his defense attorney.

"Carelessness is all this is - carelessness," said attorney Kevin O'Donnell during opening statements in Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday for Councilman Ruben Wills.

Wills was indicted by the attorney general's office in 2014 for pocketing $19,000 in grant money - approved by former state Senator Shirley Huntley in 2008 - from the state's Office of Children Family Services for his non-profit NY 4 Life.

A jury of five women and seven men will determine if Wills schemed to defraud the government, committed grand larceny and falsified business documents to hide the scheme.

Ohio pol suggests EMS stop responding to overdoses to save money

If convicted, Wills faces up to seven years in prison for the top charge.

"No one will say $33,000 of services weren't given for New York 4 Life. Not everyone looks at their accountant's work ... if you can't find receipts that's not a crime, it's not a crime to be careless," said O'Donnell.

NY 4 Life was created in 2006 to provide services for single parent homes in Southeast Queens. O'Donnell argued that Wills didn't receive the grant until 2010 and the organization still conducted breakfasts, luncheons and anti-childhood obesity campaigns.

"They aren't free," said O'Donnell.

Assistant Attorney General Travis Hill said he intends to prove that Wills not only spent the funds at department stores Macy's, Toys 'R Us, Century 21 and Nordstrom, he paid a campaign worker with the grant money.

"Michelle Davis will testify that she was paid by checks from New York 4 Life's bank account. Ruben Wills used checks for New York 4 Life and in the memo wrote it was for data entry for an obesity campaign. Davis will testify she didn't know what New York 4 Life even was," said Hill during opening statements.

Prosecutors called three witnesses from Macy's, Nordstrom's and Home Depot to comb through the receipts allegedly associated with Wills' purchases.

Purchases made at Macy's didn't detail the purchase for $749.51. Wills's Nordstrom bill, meanwhile, was for a men's dress shirt, cufflinks, two women's and boy's shirt.

Wills is also accused of taking $19,000 of the $30,000 in grant money and $11,500 in campaign matching funds during his first City Council race in 2009 for services with Micro Targeting, for translating and distributing campaign literature.

Prosecutors charge that Wills had an associate redirect the funds for Micro Targeting to NY 4 Life.

“Elected office doesn’t give anyone license to break the law, or avoid the consequences. With trust in government falling, it's all the more vital to send a clear message: public corruption will not be tolerated in New York,” said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office.

MS 226 Principal Rushell White Key Words: Checks From Ruben Wills

Under the business model for education, Rushell White, Principal of MS 226, can take all the money she wants from Ruben Wills, and do whatever she wants with it.

There is no Board of Directors to oversee what happens right, or wrong. That is the mistake that has changed the face of education in America, and certainly New York City.

Principals have too much unchecked power. The Principal's Union, CSA, defends the rights of their members to have total power over their school.

When I reported the $225,000 missing grant money at PS 6 (Carmen Farina was Principal) from the Annenberg Challenge For the Arts,  to Annenberg in or about 2001, their final conclusion after all the grants had been assessed, was that the money should not have been given to principals without safeguards for its' use. Without safeguards in place, too many principals did not use the money correctly, as the grant required.

That's the problem.  Principals have unilateral power. And, without the necessary safeguards for using money within the school, the possibility that nefarious actions may occur is unsurprisingly high.

In 2004, I published the letters from the UFT on the Special Education Mess, with children not getting the services they needed. Special education remains a mess, and I keep publishing the missing services and money on my blogs and website Parentadvocates.org. I still represent children and their parents at Impartial Hearings. No one at the DOE is fixing anything, and special education teachers are getting hit with 3020-a. Alot of them.

Ruben Wills and Rushell White

The job of a principal in New York City is to be a CEO, a Chief Executive Officer. Unfortunately, there is no Board of Directors to oversee what happens right, or wrong. That is the mistake that has changed the face of education in America, and certainly New York City.

Principals have too much unchecked power. The Principal's Union, CSA, defends the rights of their members to have total power over their school.

When I reported the $225,000 missing grant money at PS 6 (Carmen Farina was Principal) from the Annenberg Challenge For the Arts,  to Annenberg in or about 2001, their final conclusion after all the grants had been assessed, was that the money should not have been given to principals without safeguards for its' use. Without safeguards in place, too many principals did not use the money correctly, as the grant required.

That's the problem.  Principals have unilateral power. And, without the necessary safeguards for using money within the school, the possibility that nefarious actions may occur is unsurprisingly high.

In 2004, I published the letters from the UFT on the Special Education Mess, with children not getting the services they needed. Special education remains a mess, and I keep publishing the missing services and money on my blogs and website Parentadvocates.org. I still represent children and their parents at Impartial Hearings. No one at the DOE is fixing anything, and special education teachers are getting hit with 3020-a. Alot of them.

See NYC UFT Gives an Overview of the 'Special Education Mess'

The Checks

A picture is worth a thousand words.

When you enter MS 226, you quickly see huge pictures of checks on the wall. The checks -  the representations of checks - are from District #28 City Council Member Ruben Wills, to MS 226 (the school is in District 27). The checks add up to $500,000, but the real amount given last year was more than $1 million.

NYC Comptroller Cites The NYC Department of Education For Not Accounting For Thousands of Missing Computers, Tablets and Laptops

I would add to the quote above: "...or for stealing public property."

If public funds have paid for 50 computers to be given to your school, who is to point the finger at you, the principal/AP if you take one home? No one. I am not saying that all principals have thought about doing this, but I am saying that there are principals who have taken public property for themselves, or others.

See Stuart Possner's case. and,

Five NYC Department of Education Former and Current DOE Network Leaders Exposed For Violating P-Card Rules

There are many more.

On Thursday July 20, 2017 City Councilman Ruben Wills was convicted of public corruption:
City Councilman Convicted of Stealing Thousands in Public Funds
I wonder how MS226 Principal Rushell White feels about that.

MS 226 Principal Rushell White Key Words: Checks From Ruben Wills

Did Rushell White get the $750 handbag made by Louis Vuitton? People I spoke to at MS 226 say yes, she did.

Or, if a member of your staff asks where a missing computer (or two or three) may be, you, as the principal can charge him/her with taking it, and if this person doesn't have tenure, he/she can be discontinued immediately following the 60-day notice; or, if this person has tenure, then it is time for a 3020-a, with other charges padding the list of Specifications to make sure the person is terminated.

So you, principal/AP/favored staff member dont have to worry about anything. Just enjoy your spanking new computer.

Parents and non-staff members are also sometimes on the take:
Stuyvesant High School Parents' Association is Cited For Financial Fraud and Discrimination

or in danger because they say something:
Booker T. Washington Middle School 54, Grievance Brings Retaliation

How many teachers have been told suddenly that they are re-assigned, and must leave the building, leaving all their stuff accumulated over many years, in their classrooms, never to be seen again. Sometimes the property of the re-assigned gets put into a room where staff can go through the items and take what they want.

If this happens, go to the police, make a complaint. Pronto. Then tell the Principal you need your stuff, and go to the UFT and tell them .

Betsy Combier
 betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials

Scott Stringer

New Comptroller Stringer Audit: Thousands of DOE Computers, Laptops, and Tablets Missing or Not Properly Accounted For

JULY 19, 2017

In a sample of just nine locations, DOE failed to account for almost 35 percent of machines

Over 1,800 computers, tablets, and other technology were missing from sampled schools

(New York, NY) – A new Comptroller Stringer investigation has found the New York City Department of Education is missing more than 1,800 computers, laptops, and tablets, while more than 3,500 were not properly accounted for. In a sample of just eight schools and one agency office, the Comptroller found 35 percent of approximately 14,000 machines were not properly accounted for.

The follow-up audit released today comes two and a half years after a December 2014 audit by Comptroller Stringer that highlighted how the DOE could not locate 1,817 computers and identified another nearly 400 laptops and tablets that were sitting in storage, unopened and unused.

The Comptroller’s new investigation today revealed that the DOE has made no real progress in managing its technology inventory in the years since. Auditors found:

• An additional 1,816 laptops, computers, and tablets are now missing—from just nine DOE locations audited;
• 3,541 devices that were or should have been at those nine locations were not listed in DOE’s inventory — increasing the risk that DOE equipment can be stolen undetected; and
• The DOE continues to maintain the same decentralized inventory records for its technology equipment that were found inaccurate two and a half years ago and remain so.

“I’m calling on the DOE to do a top-to-bottom review of all of its computers, laptops, and monitors. When we should be preparing our kids for the great age of technology, when coding is changing the world, the DOE is losing and misplacing its tech equipment. This isn’t just a massive mess – it’s wrong. When laptops and tablets go missing, or are stored in closets gathering dust, children and teachers are let down. The ineptitude by the bureaucracy is resulting in wasted resources, and it undermines our ability to prepare our children for the future,” New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said. “The DOE has known about these problems since we audited this very issue over two years ago – and the agency has made no real progress in addressing them. We constantly hear the same excuses from the agency – that monitoring is in place, that systems are functioning the way they should, and that the public should trust that everything is fine. As this audit once again shows, taxpayer dollars are exposed to waste, fraud, or abuse – and it’s coming at our kids’ expense. This has to change.”

Between July 2014 and March 2016, the DOE entered into $209.9 million worth of contracts for computers, laptops, monitors, and tablets with Apple, Lenovo, and CDW Government, LLC. The items purchased through these three contracts included:

• Desktops computers that cost between $332 and $2,290;
• Laptops that cost between $167 and $2,339;
• Tablets that cost between $251 and $900; and
• Computer monitors that cost between $94 and $452.

Comptroller Stringer’s December 2014 audit found that the DOE was unable to properly manage its technology hardware due in large part to its decentralized inventory system. Today’s follow-up audit found that those failures have continued.

Currently, more than 2,000 individual “site administrators” across the school system are responsible for maintaining and updating their own computer inventories, which are never reconciled with the DOE’s central purchasing database or its Asset Management System (AMS). As a result, the DOE has no way of knowing whether all of the items it purchased are properly accounted for at school locations. These systemic failures expose the City to an increased risk of waste, fraud, and abuse.

In the earlier audit, the Comptroller recommended the DOE establish a centralized inventory system — possibly through the existing AMS database, which already contains information on hardware purchased by the DOE. Today’s follow-up audit showed the results of DOE’s rejection of that and other recommendations — still more missing and unused equipment — and revealed that the DOE had not even tried to find 1,090 of the 1,817 computers that were identified as missing in the December 2014 audit.

Findings from the follow-up audit include:

The DOE’s records remain inaccurate and incomplete

The DOE failed to properly account for 4,993 of its 14,329 pieces of computer hardware — or 34.9 percent of the total — at the nine sampled sites. Of those 4,993 items:

• Auditors looked for — but DOE was unable to produce — 1,816 pieces of computer hardware during physical inspections; and
• Auditors found that 3,541 pieces of computer hardware were not listed in the locations’ inventory records.

No centralized system for monitoring inventory

The previous audit recommended that the DOE revise its Standard Operating Procedures to record all computer hardware purchases in AMS and ensure that annual inventory counts are conducted and reconciled with the information in AMS. Yet, the DOE continues to refuse to implement that recommendation, citing costs, despite the potential for fraud and wasteful spending.

The DOE did not monitor recordkeeping procedures at schools and administrative sites

DOE fails to ensure that its inventory records are accurate and complete. The Department’s unmonitored, decentralized inventory system — in which site administrators from each of DOE’s 2,278 sites are responsible for maintaining and updating inventory records — are never checked against central databases of purchases. This puts computer hardware at a higher risk of being lost, stolen, and wasted.

The DOE accounted for only 12.9% of the items that were previously identified as missing

In today’s audit, the DOE accounted for only 234 of the 1,817 missing pieces of computer hardware identified in the previous audit — or 12.9 percent. The findings are broken down below.

• The DOE reported that it did not attempt to locate 1,090 computer items, most of which were listed in AMS as “location unknown.”
• Of the remaining 727 pieces of missing hardware identified in the 2014 audit, the DOE reported that it had located 353 items at eight sites.
• However, when the Comptroller’s office attempted to inspect 188 of those items at two of the sites, DOE could account for only 69 of them, or 36.7 percent.
  • The DOE claimed it had identified 162 of the missing items at the sampled DOE administrative office, but when auditors visited, they only found 69 of them.
  • Although the DOE claimed that 26 pieces of computer hardware were located at a single school, the DOE did not provide the auditors with access to that school to verify their claims.

The DOE did not provide schools and other decentralized sites with sufficient guidance and support to ensure compliance with its inventory guidelines

During interviews with DOE staff at nine sampled sites, auditors were told that they were not aware of — and did not receive access to — inventory training, AMS data, and other vendor inventory services, all of which should have been in place to help properly track computer equipment.

To address the issues that were identified in the earlier audit and the persistent problems uncovered in the follow-up audit, the Comptroller’s office issued 19 recommendations, emphasizing the need for the DOE to establish a single centralized system for monitoring its hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of  computer hardware.

New York Schools Faulted Again for Failing to Keep Track of Computers

By KATE TAYLORJULY 19, 2017, NY TIMES

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Three years ago, an audit by the New York City comptroller’s office found that because of “grossly inaccurate” record-keeping, the city’s Education Department could not account for 1,817 computers it owned.

On Wednesday, Scott M. Stringer, the comptroller, issued a follow-up audit and said things had not improved. Mr. Stringer rebuked the department for its “ineptitude” in keeping track of computers and tablets it had bought for schools and offices.

The recommendations the comptroller’s office made in 2014 included creating a centralized inventory system for computers and tablets and routinely monitoring record-keeping procedures at schools and department offices to ensure that their inventories were accurate. Neither recommendation was adopted. The department said maintaining a centralized inventory was not practical.

For the latest audit, the comptroller’s office examined the computer inventory at eight schools and one administrative office. The comptroller’s office found that 4,993 out of 14,329 pieces of computer hardware at those locations were not properly accounted for, and that 1,816 pieces were not found by the auditors at all. At Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, for example, more than one in five pieces of computer hardware listed in purchasing records, school inventory records and other city documents were not physically accounted for.

As for the 1,817 computers that were unaccounted for in the earlier audit, the comptroller’s office said the department had accounted for 234, or 13 percent.

“We constantly hear the same excuses from the agency — that monitoring is in place, that systems are functioning the way they should and that the public should trust that everything is fine,” Mr. Stringer said in a statement. “As this audit once again shows, taxpayer dollars are exposed to waste, fraud or abuse — and it’s coming at our kids’ expense.”

The Education Department criticized the new audit, saying its findings were “fundamentally flawed and unreliable.” The department faulted the comptroller’s office for relying on the department’s Asset Management System, which is primarily used to track hardware warranty and service data, as a central inventory of hardware that had been bought.

The comptroller’s office noted that the department had instructed schools to use data from the Asset Management System as a basis for creating and updating their own inventory records.

The new audit covered the two years from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2016. The department bought more than $200 million worth of computers and tablets during that period.

Nearly 2,000 technology devices for students are missing

Christine Quinn Hands Out Lulus To Political Allies

A lulu of an idea 

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn doles out the moolah one more time

Comments (3)

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 2013, 4:00 AM

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/lulu-idea-article-1.1416434#ixzz2awBu1rZL

Christine Quinn uses your tax money to reward her political allies.

For a final time in eight years as City Council speaker, would-be mayor Christine Quinn has just handed favored members the biannual cash payments called lulus. Here is one more argument for imposing an inspector general on the municipal legislature.
Although members are very well paid — $112,500 a year for part-time work — Quinn has rewarded loyalists with additional stipends and has punished those who displeased her by withholding extra pay.
The Council has moved to put the NYPD under the oversight of an inspector general who would have the power to review all of a commissioner’s policies. Backers say this IG will help ensure that all monies are fairly and properly spent.
Think about the good such an IG would do on the Council, where, in addition to lulus, the speaker doles out almost $400 million annually in so-called member items, enabling her pets to fund local causes and denying similar aid to residents of districts represented by the speaker’s foes.

Of course, the Council recoils from the suggestion. The level of hypocrisy is stunning.
Four years ago, Citizens Union asked Council candidates whether or not they would support abolishing lulus.
Twenty-three of the presently sitting members pledged to be rid of the payments and are still blessed by Quinn with taking one.
Five of those now accept the money: Sara Gonzalez and Diana Reyna of Brooklyn, Helen Foster of the Bronx, Margaret Chin of Manhattan and Danny Dromm of Queens.
Fifteen members take lulus, but claim they donate the money to charity. They are: Gale Brewer and Rosie Mendez of Manhattan; Fernando Cabrera of the Bronx; Debi Rose of Staten Island; and Mathieu Eugene, David Greenfield, Letitia James, Steve Levin and Darlene Mealy, all of Brooklyn. From Queens there are Julissa Ferreras, Peter Koo, Karen Koslowitz, Eric Ulrich, Jimmy Van Bramer and Ruben Wills.
Only three members who opposed lulus lived up to their word by refusing payments: Daniel Garodnick and Ydanis Rodriguez of Manhattan and Brooklyn’s Brad Lander. Good for them.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/lulu-idea-article-1.1416434#ixzz2awCeX0iH

Christine Quinn passes out lulus to Council members who don't have the guts to reject corruption

Friday, January 21, 2011, 4:00 AM

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/christine-quinn-passes-lulus-council-members-don-guts-reject-corruption-article-1.152683#ixzz2awDy4nei

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quin are greeted by City Council members.

This is the day when the City Council feasts on lulus. Members who stand securely in the good graces of Speaker Christine Quinn will get the first of two installments of the annual bonuses by which she rewards loyalty.
The Council justifies awarding the stipends - on top of the legally set salary of $112,500 - by depicting them as added compensation for committee work. Virtually everyone gets some such task, along with yearly payouts that range from $4,000 to $28,500. Most typical is a $10,000 boost.
Members of Congress, no matter how senior or how hefty their committee loads, get no added compensation. And for a very good reason. Legislators who are beholden to their leaders for big chunks of money will be far more likely to do as they are told rather than buck the bosses.

Quinn, who gets the biggest lulu, is foursquare behind the system. Others recognize its corrosive influence.
Before the 2009 election, the good-government group Citizens Union surveyed Council candidates. One inquiry read: "What is your position on eliminating or limiting stipends for committee chairs and leadership positions?"
Most of those who were elected backed dropping or reducing lulus. Some have lived up to their word. Daniel Garodnick of Manhattan, Ydanis Rodriguez of Manhattan and Brad Lander of Brooklyn are refusing the money. Good going.
Thirteen say they'll donate their lulus to charity: Gale Brewer and Rosie Mendez of Manhattan; Mathieu Eugene, David Greenfield, Letitia James, Steven Levin and Darlene Mealy of Brooklyn; Karen Koslowitz, Eric Ulrich, Jimmy Van Bramer and Ruben Wills of Queens; Debi Rose of Staten Island, and James Vacca of the Bronx.
Then there are the hypocrites who said they opposed lulus but are taking the money: Fernando Cabrera and Helen Foster of the Bronx; Margaret Chin of Manhattan; Daniel Dromm and Julissa Ferreras of Queens; Sara Gonzalez and Diana Reyna of Brooklyn.
For the record, Foster insists she never filled out a questionnaire expressing opposition to lulus. Strange. Someone signed the name "Helen Diane Foster" to such a document. You can look it up on the Citizens Union website. Foster should check it out herself.