NEW YORK — The New York City Department of Education is putting a pin in a multimillion-dollar proposed textbooks contract after the New York Daily News reported that it offered no discount on a bulk order for the nation’s largest school system.
The Panel for Educational Policy was slated to vote Wednesday night on a seven-year agreement with educational publisher McGraw Hill estimated to total $31.7 million — when it was pulled from the agenda just hours before the monthly meeting.
“After receiving feedback and questions at our contracts committee meeting on Monday, we have decided to pull our proposed contract, answer the questions raised by panel members, and revisit it at a later date,” DOE spokesperson Nathaniel Styer told the Daily News on Wednesday afternoon.
At the meeting, general counsel Liz Vladeck said McGraw Hill assured the department that schools will not lose access to the materials as the contract is worked through.
“We just want to ensure folks understand this means they will be working at risk of financial loss until the contract is resolved,” Vladeck said of the vendor.
Materials from McGraw Hill were quoted “a 0% discount off list price,” plus a 7% shipping fee, according to now-deleted documents submitted to the city’s education panel.
“I’m glad this particular proposal is apparently off the agenda for tonight,” Leonie Haimson of the advocacy group Class Size Matters said at the meeting. “But I’d really like to hear why this deal was made in the first place, and how those in charge will ensure that in the future our schools and our taxpayers won’t get ripped off again by the excessive cost of contracts, which then further deprives New York students of the resources they need to succeed.”
“McGraw Hill can look out for the interests of its own shareholders,” said Gavin Healy, a parent of a fifth grader in Manhattan. “The DOE should focus on our students.”
The DOE did not engage in a competitive bidding process, given the publisher’s overrepresentation in the textbook space — though a clause in the original contract guaranteed price-matching similar orders by other school and government entities.
The publishing behemoth previously told the Daily News the price offered to the DOE is the same pricing as that listed for individual purchase.
Vice Chair Thomas Sheppard, the only parent-elected member, encouraged the panel to better scrutinize the contracts that come before it to look for chances to save money.
“When you start to really dive into all of these contracts, I wonder if there is enough cost savings in evaluating these contracts, so that we don’t have to lay off 1,000 teachers,” said Sheppard, “or that schools don’t have to make choices between whether or not to have an arts program or a music program, or that we don’t have to play the Hunger Games every year when it comes to funding.”
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