NYC Schools Chancellor No-Bid Contract Probe Threatens Federal Grant Integrity

The investigation into New York City Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels' no-bid contracts isn't just a local corruption scandal—it's a test of the U.S. Department of Education's ability to protect taxpayer dollars in public education. The ED Office of Inspector General (OIG) is responsible for investigating fraud, waste, and abuse in federally funded programs like Title I and IDEA, which together send billions to NYC schools. If the Trump administration succeeds in hollowing out the OIG—as it has already done by removing inspectors general across agencies—there will be no federal watchdog to ensure that funds meant for low-income students and children with disabilities aren't siphoned off by political insiders.

Project 2025's blueprint to abolish the Department of Education would transfer oversight of these grants to states with far weaker enforcement capacity. In the NYC case, reports show Samuels signed a no-bid contract with a non-DOE-approved vendor and split payments to evade scrutiny—exactly the kind of scheme that requires a strong federal monitor. Rather than weakening ED's oversight role, we should be reinforcing the OIG's capacity to investigate and claw back misused funds, ensuring that every federal education dollar reaches the classroom, not a crony's pocket.