Wasted Tax Monies Flow to Education Company
Cited: Google News/Daily News
New York Governor Cuomo provided a glaring example of how taxpayer money is being bilked by education companies whose executives are making obscene salaries from services they provide to the school districts across New York State. The governor used a PowerPoint presentation in identifying the head of Ellen Cooper Associates of Syosset, Ms. Ellen Cooper, as one of the most glaring examples of the problem in the education system and the payouts to private providers of service to this system. Ms. Cooper earned approximately $3.2 million last year with $2.2 million in salary and fringe benefits and another $1 million from shareholder distributions dating back to 2009.
Ms. Cooper’s company is called Cooper Kids Therapy Associates and for their services the firm earned $19 million in 2009, the lion’s share of which came from state, federal, and county funding. When contacted for comment following Governor Cuomo’s speech and presentation, Ms. Cooper declined comment and said that she didn’t know anything about the salary figures illuminated by the governor. According to Governor Cuomo, there are over 140,000 service providers under contract with various school districts in New York State and the CEO’s of these companies are earning somewhere between $50,000 and $1 million per year, all of which coming from tax payer dollars.
In order to put a lid on the excessive pay being earned at the tax payer expense but without proper scrutiny, the governor is proposing that salaries paid to these execs be capped at $199,00 from funds paid by the state, city, or county. His proposal would also mandate that at least 85% of monies paid to these service providers go directly to the services to their clients and not to executive pay.
My take:
Sounds like Ms. Cooper has been making a very nice living on the backs of the public and a school system struggling to find its way. I do hope that more than just identifying her salary, the governor investigates her further to see if perhaps some other financial impropriety might also be putting my money into her Gucci pocketbook.