That's a Lot of Pizza
- Chicago Public Schools spent millions of dollars to bring in food and beverages from area restaurants and catering companies, including more than $500,000 since July, and now the district says it crafted new guidelines because "no clear rules" were in place.
On Wednesday, CPS acknowledged it spent roughly $2.9 million on "food from outside vendors" during the budget year that ended June 30. Nearly half was spent by the district's central office bureaucracy. And lackluster record-keeping meant more than a third of the money couldn't be properly accounted for, the district said.
If we couldn't account for one-third of our money, we'd have a lot of explaining to do to the numerous banks, the car loan company, the mortgage people and the significant other.
But hey, the schools can just raise their portion of the property tax to the maximum again to pay for it all. The schools are broke you know.
But hey, the schools can just raise their portion of the property tax to the maximum again to pay for it all. The schools are broke you know.
Labels: scandals
posted by SCC at 12:33 AM
30 Comments:
And you just know that those weren't $5 Little Caeser Hot & Ready pizzas either.
Pizza, pizza
So CPS is literally eating up our tax dollars!!! How do they get away with all this BS??? Oh, yeah, the stupid masses keep voting democratic, for one thing....
Do you think Democrats might be involved?
CPS is a sinkhole of financial waste, especially some of these 'do nothing' positions which many CPS employees with clout are working at schools. Many of these 'do nothing' positions were given to administrator's friends to do nothing more than be the eyes and ears while the administrators sit in their offices.
As an example, I give you Frank J. Cassello . Casello aka 'The Mayor' walked in one door at CPS headquarters to retire as a CPS drafting teacher from Prosser Career Academy HS after 38 years in June, 2006 and came out with a $85,000+ pension along with another $150,000, a one-time payout for his unused sick days. (Unused sick days paid out at the rate of pay he was making in his final teaching year and not the rate he banked each day).
Next, Cassello walked in another door at CPS headquarters to fill out paperwork for his new "$35K+/Health Benefits" position for CPS and that position was Toolroom Operator at Prosser. The problem here is the position was never posted for others to apply, Prosser doesn't have a toolroom, and Cassello was just a henchman for the school's principal (Kenneth Hunter). How was Cassello paid? Mostly off Prosser's school budget and discretionary funds, funds used to also buy pizza from Mama Luna's on Fullerton Ave. for staff pizza parties.
FYI: Prosser's school budget which was so dry one year that their Girls Softball team had to pile into their coaches cars instead of getting on a school bus to transport them to and from their game one an April day. The result of this travel to their game was one of their cars hit by a truck driver after the coach blew a red light.
Here's how Cassello's typical day went down, his was pieced together after speaking with other staff members who kept an eye on him when keeping an eye on them:
'The Mayor' would show up either at 6:30A or 7:00A without any students or teachers present to assist and leave at 2 or 2:30P to work a 6.5 hr day . ...Upon arriving Frank would hang out with the shop teachers, read the paper and a few blogs, have breakfast, a few smokes, and coffee until 7:45A.
7:45A-8:15A/8:30A: Frank would stand near the metal detectors while security checked kids through and sit next to a Prosser staffer who would hand out Tardy Slips to students.
8:30A-9:30A/10A:He would hang out in either Hunter's, an AP's, or another staffer's office in the main office.
10A-11A: he would hang out in the bookroom with the door closed, nap time
11A-12P/12:30P: Lunch outside the building
12:30P-2P/2:30P: Frank would rotate hanging out in the same offices above and the Bookroom.
2p or 2:30P: Quitting Time
If you don't believe this ask JK, one of the POs involved in the Abbate mess, as he works security at Prosser.
Remember these are rahms people spending this money not teachers.
Maybe if he didn't cut transportation to the bone it wou would be easier for the kids to get to school to eat the pizza
I though everyone was on the Michelle Obama diet?
So basically my property taxes are going to pay for CPS bureaucrats daily lunch - Is there no end to the corruption in this city?
make the administrators eat the same food they feed the kids.
Make them eat the same slop the feed the kids in school. Let them eat "moochelle" approved meals.
The Daley-Emanuel Democratic death spiral continues.
I don't understand why someone in a supervisory or management position isn't held responsible?
Roughly 1/3 of $2.9 MILLION is unaccounted for in outside vendor expenses for fast food including pizzas in the Chicago Public Schools ?
CPS= Confiscated Pizza $
CPS acknowledged it spent roughly $2.9 million on "food from outside vendors"
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my "white privilege" got me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for all 8 years of Catholic grade school. For 10 cent you could go buy an extra thing of chocolate milk.
Boy, I'm getting old.
CPS's job is to teach. Not babysit, not provide breakfast and lunch, but to do one thing...and do it right...and that's teach. When they use outside vendors for anything at all, it's just a way to steal money. Cut two thirds of the administration and all the other bullshit including safe passage and the inflated budget will manageable. I can see why Rauner doesn't want to give CPS money, it's just a place for the connected to siphon money from. Our outrageous property taxes already should more than cover their budget and operating cost.
JUST A CITIZEN SCREAMS: "No Clear Rules?" "NO CLEAR RULES?" Seriously? And these are the hand-picked MENSA members that are setting up guidelines for and/or teaching students? And they had the utter nerve to say that OUT LOUD FOR EVERYONE TO HEAR??? Surprised/not surprised.
Vaneko catering?
Not a cop. I have done IT work for CPS over the years and it is a joke the amount of theft and waste. Once we were installing pcs at the main headquarters. Bear in mind each new pc was at a cost of 3k. Yes 3k, that is a new car price. IBM jacked the price up. You know, this is for the kids. So we get called into some supervisor office, they all have the same title but this guy was very important. He looked pissed. Wanted to know the cost of the flat screens. The IBM rep told him, he turned and said, well everyone should get one. I was like wtf. So 3k for the pc and another 250 for a flat screen? The story gets worse. You know those pretty Chromebook and IPADs? They are not tracked, when CPS bought them they did not purchase the extra security software for them. So when they are stolen guess what, you cannot find them, at least not right away. Also there are several schools that have boxes of new devices just sitting. Now lets get to the meat. Sentinel Technologies has CPS contract but they have guys just show up smoking and joking literally in the data center at 50, 60 a hour. Doing nothing. You want to cut waste at CPS, look at the money they spend for tech services. Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples over 70 MILLION the past three years. FACT.
Let there be an allegation of an officer taking money on traffic stops and you can bet your bottom dollar the U.S. Attorney, the states attorneys office, The f.b.i.,The i.r.s and others would be fist fighting in the conference room to be the lead agency with exclusive bragging rights to bag a Chicago Police Officer. I thought the mission of the C.P.S. was to educate children. Talk about a bloated staff. I wonder of michele obama and her food Nazis would approve of such inorganic gluten laden carbohydrate rich fatty lunches. Where are all those "premier" law enforcement agencies when it comes to all the in your face corruption and graft by a public forever asking for more working peoples money bureaucracy?
The 21st Century Act introduced paperless banking allowing electronic imaging in lieu of a paper check for acceptance by financial institutions. The electronic images are stored forever. Having said that, where is the C.P.S. Inspector General to conduct an audit and put all those self serving "public servants" in the hot seat. The amount of money going the C.P.S. cartel is astounding and the personal sacrifice from those who do the old fashioned 9 to 5 shocks your conscience. Maybe all public agencies should have their checkbooks and transfers of public money posted on the internet open for public inspection. The taxpayer would get solace in knowing their sweat equity is truly for the children. Ultimately, no one will be fired and certainly no one will be jailed. After all, its not the administrator's money to begin with.
"make the administrators eat the same food they feed the kids."
9/21/2015 07:42:00 AM
Yeah, my take on this was that it was all Lou Malnati's, &c. props for endless "administrative," "coordinating," "facilitating" staff meetings that ended in the same place they started. But we had a meeting.
"Do-nothings need to eat too!"
When I was a kid each school had a lunch room, staffed with kitchen help and cooks. I believe it would cost much less and be healthier to return to the old way. Box lunches suck and more likely then not cost more the old way. Each grammar school had one engineer a custodian, the snow was shoveled ( no snow blowers back then ) and the property was clean! Now there are all sorts of janitors custodians and they have snow removal machines and they can't remove the snow? Why? Then there are citizens who volunteer to clean the outside of the school! Someone tell me why?
i hope they ordered from salerno pizza in berwyn they have the best pizza
It's for the kidz!
This is not a surprise to any CPS teacher. I can't even buy a cup of coffee in my school, but every time the network people come in for a meeting they're preceded by the catering delivery. And now CPS wants us to take a 10% cut to pay back the pension fund they drained. Broke on purpose!
List of Items found in Prosser's Bookroom kept there by Frank 'The Mayor' Cassello:
1- butane lighter
2- packs of smokes
1- coffee maker
1- coffee cup
1- bottle of Bailey's
1- bottle of Irish Whiskey
1- can of Folger's coffee
1- package of coffee filters
1- box of sugar cubes
1- cream
1- pillow
1- blanket
1- AM radio with an alarm clock**
1- small tv set
1- pair of polyester pants, circa 1977
1- sweat stained collared striped dress shirt, circa 1977
1- can of brown noser removal ointment
**God forbid Frankie oversleeps and has to hit a lot of traffic going home.
Hmmm...don't some of those "outside vendors" have outfit and clout ties??? Duh of course they do, they wouldn't be getting that kind of money from the city if they didnt! It never ends, never will
CPS is a joke
Anonymous Anonymous said...
When I was a kid each school had a lunch room, staffed with kitchen help and cooks. I believe it would cost much less and be healthier to return to the old way. Box lunches suck and more likely then not cost more the old way. Each grammar school had one engineer a custodian, the snow was shoveled ( no snow blowers back then ) and the property was clean! Now there are all sorts of janitors custodians and they have snow removal machines and they can't remove the snow? Why? Then there are citizens who volunteer to clean the outside of the school! Someone tell me why?
9/21/2015 02:37:00 PM
And when I was a kid, each school had a place where a kid could open the lunchbox they brought from home, buy a carton of milk for a few cents (chocolate cost more) and eat. That is, if they were one of the few kids who didn't go home for lunch.
Now, we cater. And simper. And wring our hands over sugary sodas and trans fats.
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