Since then, he has kept his word when it comes to making painful choices. The district's plan to shutter half of its schools drew national scrutiny and sparked the most contested school board election in recent memory. Really changing the way the district operates, though, means changing where the money goes.
The good news is that the district no longer cuts checks without question for anyone who asks.
"When I first started on the board, people would come in all the time saying, 'I did this work for the district, and now I want my money,' " says new school board president Airick West. "And they'd never have a contract. There would never be a record of the work they did, but the board would vote to pay them. I don't see that happen much anymore. We're not just giving out money like that."
Covington addressed the issue in March, announcing that he would cut or renegotiate more than half of the $85 million the district spends on outside contracts. Immediately, the school board canceled $9.5 million of those contracts and put another 82 independent contractors — pulling a combined $44.5 million — on notice that their agreements with the district would be canceled or renegotiated.
We've pulled out a dozen endangered contracts for closer inspection. The businesses now on the line include child therapists, lobbyists and graffiti-cleaning teams. In some cases, these companies aren't actually paid the budgeted amounts — some bill only for services that they end up providing, rather than charging the district for every dime allowed in their contracts. Some of them have histories of patronage with the district, and some have questionable effectiveness, but many target children who live below the poverty line, offering help with problems that require more attention than a day of public school can give.
Program: Local Investment Commission (LINC)
How much does it cost? $5,300,000 per year
What does it do? Provides after-school programs.
Bang for your buck: The Local Investment Commission's supporters have always said the group's after-school programs are invaluable for offering academic help to underprivileged students, providing a safe place for kids whose parents work long hours after the school day is over and even helping unemployed parents find work. Still, this isn't the first time that LINC's future with the district has been uncertain. In 2007, then-superintendent Anthony Amato refused to pay $1.2 million that LINC claimed it was owed. Amato said there was no contract for LINC's services; LINC said there was an automatic renewal clause in a 1999 agreement and claimed that Amato kept students out of LINC programs with the Power Hour after-school tutoring program. Board member Marilyn Simmons backed the LINC program. LINC's effectiveness was reviewed during the 2004-05 school year by Christopher Henrich, an associate professor of psychology at Georgia State University. Henrich's review was halted midyear because of disputes with the district, but from the limited data he gathered, Henrich found that middle-school students regularly going to LINC programs had a marginal increase in test scores and that the program's best benefit was helping kids connect to their communities by establishing relationships with groups such as the YMCA, Boy Scouts, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Program: YouthFriends
How much does it cost? $186,503 per year
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Pay those that provide the services. Send the others out.
Past school counselor@KCMSD
Pay those that provide the services. Send the others out. Past school counselor@KCMSD
PROMISES--WHERE THERE IS NO VISION THE PEOPLE PARISH--NOW THAT THIS DECISION HAS BEEN MADE, WHERE IS THE VISION. I HOPE THAT ALL STUDENTS, THOSE IN GROUP HOMES AND INCARCERATED, PLUS THE ONE'S BEHIND THEM WERE INCLUDED IN THE COUNT FOR DOUBLING SCHOOLS. WHAT HAPPENS TO THE EMPTY BUILDINGS? PROMISES SCHOOL OF MENTORS ANYONE? I HAVE VISION. EMAIL ME SUBJECT PROMISES
PROMISES--WHERE THERE IS NO VISION THE PEOPLE PARISH--NOW THAT THIS DECISION HAS BEEN MADE, WHERE IS THE VISION. I HOPE THAT ALL STUDENTS, THOSE IN GROUP HOMES AND INCARCERATED, PLUS THE ONE'S BEHIND THEM WERE INCLUDED IN THE COUNT FOR DOUBLING SCHOOLS. WHAT HAPPENS TO THE EMPTY BUILDINGS? PROMISES SCHOOL OF MENTORS ANYONE? I HAVE VISION. EMAIL ME SUBJECT PROMISES
I love the 1,197,036 per year for the African-Centered education. How about we scrap this silliness and spend 1.2 million on something innovative like "Graduation Centered Education." Do we have Asian-Centered education? Antarctican-Centered education?
Time to pet projects and silly unproven frills to go to the wayside.
I love the 1,197,036 per year for the African-Centered education. How about we scrap this silliness and spend 1.2 million on something innovative like "Graduation Centered Education." Do we have Asian-Centered education? Antarctican-Centered education? Time to pet projects and silly unproven frills to go to the wayside.
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