Baltimore Mayor Orders Audit of School Construction

Once again,Sara Neufeld's reporting of gross mismanagement by the Baltimore City Schools has lead to another audit of their operational practices. Sara Neufeld keeps Baltimore City auditors busy.

Mayor Sheila Dixon ordered an audit of the Baltimore school system's construction and renovation program yesterday, responding to reports that the system permitted shoddy work on multiple projects.

Saying she "will not tolerate the misuse or waste of school funding," Dixon called on the city comptroller and the city inspector general to identify the projects that were left incomplete and who was responsible for the problems.

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"I am deeply dismayed by recent information suggesting that Baltimore City Public Schools may have paid out millions of dollars for school renovation work that was not done," Dixon said in a statement.

"That misleading information was provided to school system administrators and then passed on to the state is deeply troubling and unacceptable. That money meant to improve the quality of our schools was wasted is appalling."

Meanwhile, Gov. Martin O'Malley accused his own agency, the State Education Department, of unfairly singling out the city schools for scrutiny. His reaction differed sharply from that of other officials. The City Council president and education committee chairman called for a work session with school administrators to determine how they can best help to resolve the situation.

O'Malley, who clashed openly with state Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick during his years as mayor, said the state investigation of city renovation projects smacked of "high-handed paternalism." During yesterday's Board of Public Works meeting, he said he suspects the state discovered Baltimore's problems only because the city has a more "open and transparent" tracking system than other school systems do.

The Governor's reaction is interesting because many of the problems no doubt extend to his watch as Baltimore Mayor. The city schools morass is rapidly becoming the number one issue in this year's Baltimore elections.

Councilman Kenneth N. Harris Sr., who is challenging Rawlings-Blake in the race for council president, said Dixon should be ordering an audit of the entire school system, not just its construction and renovation program. Harris called for a financial audit of the system in April, after The Sun reported that the school board approved a budget filled with errors and discrepancies. The council is scheduled to vote on a revised version of that budget Monday.

"A sloppy budget, now we have this. What's going to be next?" Harris said yesterday. "We need to bring credibility to this system. Right now the system has no credibility."

The politics will be playing out over the next five months and if Neufeld keeps going, November will be a bloodbath.