The Education Department gave a 9% pay raise this month to a controversial British consulting company that performs yearly evaluations of most city schools.
Though school officials say they're trying to cut costs in the face of a mounting budget crisis, the company, Cambridge Education, had a clause in its three-year $19 million contract that allowed it to apply for a rate hike on March 1, the contract's halfway point.
"When we negotiated the contract, they essentially gave us a sort of discount in the first year in exchange for an agreement that they could negotiate an increase in the second year," schools spokesman Andrew Jacob said.
The firm, which faces rising costs from flying its consultants from England to New York and putting them up in downtown Manhattan apartments, sought a 13% raise per school - but instead got a 9% boost, Jacob said.
The average cost of reviewing a school will jump to $4,856, up from $4,427.
The pay hike doesn't sit well with educators steaming over a school budget cut of nearly 2% that canceled tutoring programs last month.
"How do you cut money from the schools, from the children, and give a raise to these consultants that many principals feel are not useful?" said the principal of a Queens middle school that got a middle rating of "proficient" on its Cambridge quality review last year.
Cambridge consultants spend one to four days assessing a school's curriculum and management. Results are posted online and affect principal bonuses.
Some educators say the reviews are more informative than test-score-based letter grades. The teachers union wants to see them used as a key factor in judging schools.
But expenses related to bringing consultants from abroad have raised eyebrows.
"We used to do this on our own in our districts," said a Brooklyn elementary school principal whose school earned the top "well developed" rating. "In the context of the budget cuts, I'd rather see the money spent on training."
Before the raise, Cambridge's contract estimated taxpayers would spend as much as $1.1 million on travel expenses for visiting consultants as part of the $19 million three-year maximum fee.
That would include $630,777 over three years for lodging in what Jacob said are shared two-bedroom apartments in lower Manhattan.
Last year, the firm billed $6.2 million, less than the $6.4 million maximum. This year, including training expenses, the firm is expected to bill $6.3 million.
Next year's costs are expected to be significantly lower, Jacob said. This is because Cambridge is training local educators so they can do more evaluations on their own next year - cutting down on the number of schools Cambridge will review.
"We think it's a good value given that Cambridge is so experienced," Jacob said.
