There are alarming discrepancies in two separate but supposedly identical lists of no-bid contracts awarded by the New York City Department of Education.
A list of no-bid contracts that we obtained from the Pubic Advocate’s Office, which was created from the education department’s very own records, includes hundreds of no-bid contracts that do not appear [...]

As we’ve conducted this investigation, getting any response from the Department of Education has been difficult – until now.  On Wednesday morning, we were granted a 45-minute interview with Executive Director of Contracts and Purchasing David N. Ross.
Ross also sits as the head of the Committee on Contracts, which recommends which no-bid contracts should be [...]

We are investigating sole-source contracts within the New York Department of Education since it came under mayoral control in 2002.  We recently obtained two lists of sole-sourced contracts.  One “comprehensive” list from the City Comptroller, and another compiled from directly from the DOE website.
Legally, all contracts are supposed to be registered with the City Comptroller.  [...]