New York Set to Close School for Troubled Teens After Simple Clerical Error in Budget Request

[Jefferson23]

* At least they are consistent in their determination to continue to move in the wrong direction. Let's
end up jailing the students in the near future, that is so much cheaper...only about $30,000 per inmate
per year.

From Democracy Now

July 22, 2011

As Congress considers spending cuts to reduce the deficit, critics warn that reduced education, healthcare and other social services will disproportionally impact low-income communities of color. This is the case in New York City, where a high school that provides drug treatment to former gang members is being closed as part of an effort to trim the state budget — all because of a simple data entry error that made it appear the school served 39 students instead of more than 140 troubled youth. Democracy Now!’s Jaisal Noor filed this report.

JAISAL NOOR: For the past 41 years, the Alpha School has built a reputation for turning around the most troubled kids from Brooklyn’s toughest neighborhoods. Based in East New York, the school’s one-of-a-kind approach combines a drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment facility with GED classes and job training and placement. Its CEO, Barry Addison, or Mr. B, as he’s known by students, says he takes the kids everyone else has given up on.

BARRY ADDISON: A lot of them come from broken homes. A lot of them, you know, they live in the projects. They live in environments where it’s gang-infested. And, you know, they’re at-risk young people. And everybody that lives in these communities, a young person, could be at risk. You know what I mean? So, the door is open for almost every young person that need these type of services. I needed them. I graduated from here in 1975. So, you know—and here I am, you know, many years later, still servicing the same kind of people, young people, that I was, you know, running with the gangs and robbing and using drugs and dealing drugs. And this is what we do.

JAISAL NOOR: After 41 years of helping troubled youth, budget cuts may force the school to close, leaving its students with few options. Just a few weeks ago, Mr. B got a notice from the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. Due to a simple clerical error on its budget request form, the school lost all of its funding. The school reported it served 39 students. In fact, the school had served between 140 and 170. The error made it appear the school was underperforming, making it a target for budget cuts. Mr. B says he was informed he could not appeal the decision.

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/7/22/new_york_set_to_close_school_for_troubled_youth_after_administrative_error_in_budget_request

[Igel]

1. Oops.

I feel sorry for kids. The money's probably already been allocated elsewhere.

"Due to a simple clerical error" means "because Ms. Smith didn't complete the form properly and because Mr. Jones didn't bother to read what he signed, they reported false information to the NY State Office of.... Because they had better things to do that day, their attention slipped and they neglected to properly complete the funding request. Their inattention to detail caused the school to lose all of its funding. These employees reported that the school served 39 students. I hope whatever was more important than the kids was worth it."

On the other hand, going to the press in hopes of getting special treatment so that the administrators don't have to suffer for their mistakes is probably worth it. Yeah, the guilty victims will be spared, but at least the innocent victims will be spared, too.