How Vendors 'Grease' School Officials
Q. Our
superintendent's best friend works for a finance firm. He volunteered as the
head of a citizens committee to whip up support for a multi-million dollar bond
issue which the superintendent really wanted. It passed. Then his firm got to
handle the bonds. No doubt he made beaucoup bucks. How much do "sweetheart
deals" affect school spending decisions, and how can the public stop this sort
of thing?
Most states have competitive bidding
requirements, and most require public officials to report campaign
contributions and gifts over a certain amount.
But there are so many gray areas,
ethically, that it's difficult to gauge how widespread influence peddling
really is.
Is a superintendent's weekend golf
outing to resort location paid for by a law firm whose client wants to do real
estate business with the school district a proper move?
Is a night out on the town with
spouses - a lavish dinner and theater tickets -- with the owner of a
construction company, a friend of the superintendent, OK even if there's a
contract coming out on a new school building?
How about accepting favors like free
snow removal at your home, free magazine subscriptions, or free office
supplies?
The rule is supposed to be that
there should be no personal benefit to a school official for interactions with
vendors and potential vendors. The ultimate benefit is supposed to be "for the
kids."
But consider what's gone on recently
in Dallas alone:
--
Dallas Independent School District trustee Ron Price was reported as receiving
just three political donations last year totaling $25,000, all from three
closely associated computer contractors, including one who gave the district's
top technology boss years' worth of free sea-fishing trips and use of a 59-foot
yacht. One donor was Frankie Wong, president and chief executive of Micro
System Enterprises of Houston. That firm is the head company in a consortium
that will reap more than 96 percent of federal technology grants that the
Dallas district has applied for - $369 million in all. Price, who chaired the
committee that heard the technology proposals, has said he doesn't know any of
the three individuals who made the donations, according to the Dallas Morning News.
--
Dr. Mike Moses, superintendent of the Dallas district and former state
commissioner of education for Texas, was revealed to be "moonlighting" with a
Texas law firm, Bracewell & Patterson, being paid a consulting fee to help
find a new superintendent for another school district. At the time, Moses was
the highest-paid superintendent in Texas, among the highest-paid anywhere,
making $337,500 plus perks last year, according to Texas education activist
Donna Garner. He has said he was paid in the "tens of thousands" of dollars by
the law firm. The law firm had contracts with the Dallas district worth more
than $700,000, according to the Dallas
Morning News.
Homework: There's a good article on ethics
from the American Association of School Administrators, http://www.aasa.org/publications/SA/2004_09/pardini_payzant.htm