Sunday, February 16, 2014

Auditor General/ How we got where we are

There has been a request to reference the very informative "How we got where we are" series that was posted previously, given recent Auditor General interest in Pittsburgh Public schools.

Here is the link to Part I:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are.html

Part II:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-ii-aug.html

Part III:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-iii.html

Part IV:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-iv.html

Part V:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-v-january.html

Part VI:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-vi.html

Part VII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-vii-june.html

Part VIII:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-viii.html

Part IX:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-ix.html

Part X:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-x-october.html

Part XI:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xi.html

Part XII:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xi_10.html

 Part XIII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xiii.html

Part XIV:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xiv-march.html

Part XV:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xv.html

Part XVI:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/search?q=How+we+got+Part+XVI

 Part XVII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xvii-may.html

 Part XVIII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xviii-june.html

 Part XIX:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xix-june.html

 Part XX:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xx-july.html

 Part XXI:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxi-august.html

 Part XXII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xx.html

 Part XXIII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxiii.html

 Part XXIV:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxiv.html

 Part XXV:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxv.html

 Part XXVI:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxvi.html

 Part XXVII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxvii.html

 Part XXVIII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxviii.html

 Part XXIX:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxix-april.html

 Part XXX:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxx-may.html

 Part XXXI:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxxi-june.html

 Part XXXII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxxii-july.html

 Part XXXIII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/search?q=How+we+got+Part+XXXIII

Part XXXIV:

 http://purereform.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxxiv.html

 Part XXXV:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxxv.html

 Part XXXVI:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxxvi_22.html

 Part XXXVII:

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-we-got-where-we-are-part-xxxvii.html


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7 comments:

Questioner said...

Part VII:

"The contract for asbestos removal is increased by $500,000 for preventive remediation at Schenley."

- This is a red letter item for the auditor. Little did the public know that the district's own contractors were advising that the test used to check for the presence of asbestos was only a rough "first pass," and that a more accurate test (cost about $20,000) was recommended. Instead of spending 20k to see if $500k in remediation was really necessary (or whether a $15 million to move students on an "emergency basis" including a costly renovation of Reizenstein), the district just jumped in and spent the 500k and the $15M. Only years later, in preparation for sale of the building was the 20k test done revealing MINIMAL ASBESTOS AT SCHENLEY (and really, there was no reason to wait to do the test, because the district knew that if it closed the school it would look into selling it and in order to sell it, the more precise test would be done). And then, after only 3 years of use, students were moved out of Reizenstein to Peabody and the newly renovated Reizenstein was sold and demolished.

February 17, 2014 at 1:02 AM
Anonymous said...

Scary look down memory lane. My spouse is mentioned. Very professional, very dedicated but made the grave error of having morals & principles.

Was asked on day one to fire a person without cause. Didn't do it....

Look at the list of people that are gone since this began. It is insane.

February 17, 2014 at 3:44 AM
Anonymous said...

Q, perhaps you should pen a letter on behalf of Pure Reform and its loyal followers to the auditor general with specific links and maybe even a copy of the entire "How we got where we are" series.

February 17, 2014 at 10:10 AM
Questioner said...

Word is that the links are being called to the Auditor's attention. If they are ignored it will be an indication that a real audit is not being done.

February 17, 2014 at 10:31 AM
Mark Rauterkus said...

Who wrote this series? Is the copyright available or is it Creative Commons or even in the public domain? I have a few more questions too.

February 18, 2014 at 11:33 PM
Questioner said...

Not sure exactly who wrote it but there shouldn't be any problem with quoting it and just citing to the "How we got where we are" series posted on the pure reform blog.

February 18, 2014 at 11:55 PM
Anonymous said...

There is no copyright on these notes and there is not one necessary. It is simply a collection of writings by a few dedicated people who have watched the destruction of a school district in which they loved.

All the information is accurate and can be reference to a specific point in the board minutes or personal observations during the period in question.

Oh and by the way, the last Auditor General had the same information and more than you see here. And did we see any auditing from the office before?

Now. What are your other questions?

February 20, 2014 at 9:28 PM

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