Fox 59 Airs Faulty Report on IPS Cell Phones

09-09-2010

Using a report from an anti-public education advocacy group as the basis for its story, Fox 59 aired a false story concerning IPS cell phone charges on Sept. 9.

The district was accused of spending $25,000 per month on cell phone charges with carrier AT&T. The Education Action Group, a Michigan-based trio, made the claim in a newsletter it sent to media. The group based its claim on a review of cell phone records made available through a public records request — records it posted to a public website. However, while the group claimed that a Dec. 16, 2009-Jan. 15, 2010 AT&T invoice charged $19,056.82, no such bill was posted to the website.

That’s because no such bill exists. The total AT&T charges for that timeframe are $1,015.25. IPS pays approximately $500 per month for the account cited – an account that does not pay for cell phone usage. The account pays the cost of GPS services on the district’s fleet of 425 vehicles, including buses, school police cars, and maintenance trucks.

Fox 59 failed to use common journalistic research techniques to discover this fabrication.

In Spring 2009, the account in question was charged more than $19,000 in overage fees by AT&T. However, the district worked with AT&T to successfully remove the charges after it was discovered the overage fees were inappropriately charged. Those fees were removed in July 2009.

EAG also noted that IPS pays approximately $5,000 per month to Sprint for cell phone service. Sprint provides service to 172 employees at a cost of approximately $34 per person. The majority of these employees are school police officers, craftsmen (plumbers, electricians, glazers, etc.), and transportation supervisors who need cell phones to conduct their business, as their jobs require them to be mobile and not stationed at a desk. These employees do work on behalf of IPS children, from transporting them to and from school to ensuring their classrooms are safe. To claim these charges do not serve children is false.

Now here’s the EAG’s rebuttal.

IPS uses technicalities, excuses to deflect heat over spending problems

EAG stands by its report on the district’s cellular bills

INDIANAPOLIS – The Education Action Group would like to respond to the grossly misleading and erroneous statements issued by Indianapolis Public School leaders regarding the district’s unnecessary expenses.

Today, IPS issued a statement in reaction to our most recent weekly newsletter, the Hoosier Report Card, and a resulting Fox59 story about the school district’s cellular bills.

The IPS statement contends that “The district was accused of spending $25,000 per month on cell phone charges with carrier AT&T.”

In fact, our report specifically states that “According to billing records, IPS administrators racked up $24,812.29 in cell phone charges through two carriers in one month.”

The IPS statement continues “The group based its claim on a review of cell phone records made available through a public records request – records it posted to a public website. However, while the group claimed that a Dec. 16, 2009 – Jan. 15, 2010 AT&T invoice charged $19,056.82, no such bill was posted to the website.”

In reality, IPS provided the cellular records to EAG through a public information request we sent months ago. We posted the records cited in our newsletter at ISTAexposed.com. For the timeframe cited in our report, there are 55 bills, many past due, that were sent to the school district for a total of $19,056.82 in current charges. Those charges did not include past-due amounts.

EAG has triple checked the $19,056.82 total, and we encourage IPS leaders to add up the charges themselves.

The IPS statement also contends that “IPS pays approximately $500 per month for the account cited – an account that does not pay for cell phone usage. The account pays the cost of GPS services on the district’s fleet of 425 vehicles, including buses, school police cars, and maintenance trucks.”

Records provided to EAG by IPS, and posted at ISTAexposed.com, show that of the 55 AT&T bills covering charges from Dec. 16, 2009 through Jan. 15, 2010, four included charges for GPS services, from what we can tell. Those four bills total roughly $5,000 of the $19,056.82 total.

The IPS statement continues “In Spring 2009, the account in question was charged more than $19,000 in overage fees by AT&T. However, the district worked with AT&T to successfully remove the charges after it was discovered the overage fees were inappropriately charged. Those fees were removed in July 2009.”

This statement is irrelevant because the cellular bills which are addressed in the Hoosier Report Card pertain to charges in December 2009 and January 2010.

The remainder of the IPS statement is dedicated to defending the district’s other cellular phone charges through a second carrier, Sprint. The district paid that company another $5,755.47 for cellular coverage around the same time as the AT&T invoices.

IPS spent $24,812.29 between the two carriers for one month of cellular coverage, as we reported in the Hoosier Report Card. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous and contradicts the records provided to EAG by IPS.

EAG would also like to address the negative, condescending tone of the IPS statement, which referred to our organization as “an anti-public education advocacy group” and “a Michigan-based trio.”

EAG is a Michigan-based non-profit that employs five staff members that focus on education reform issues across the country, with a keen interest on the Midwest. We support reforms that ensure the best use of the public’s tax dollars, and we do not believe that extravagant cellular phone allowances should be part of the equation.

“It seems obvious to us that IPS would prefer that Indianapolis taxpayers don’t have access to their spending records or input on how the district spends its money,” said Kyle Olson, EAG vice president. “We disagree with that philosophy and intend to dig deeper into the district’s records to expose any unnecessary expenses that channel money away from those who need it most – Indianapolis students.”

For more on our take on IPS’s spending or our review of its records, please call the contacts above.

For more information on IPS’s position, Supt. Eugene White’s cell phone number is (317) 459-5011; district spokeswoman Mary Louise Bewley’s cell phone is (317) 341-1636, according to records provided by IPS.