World's Most Expensive Leftovers

The bad news: the consultants, Alvarez and Marsal, cost the department $15.8 million.

That's pretty expensive advice.

So in an attempt, perhaps, to wring every last cent of value out of the firm's work, City Council Education Committee Chairman Robert Jackson said at a hearing this morning that he wanted copies of every recommendation made by Alvarez and Marsal -- even the ones that weren't put into practice The DOE refused.

The recommendations that were accepted by the DOE, they said, have already been made public. And turning over the full list of proposals from A&M would breach the confidential communication the DOE has with consultants and would make it harder to get candid information from outside advisers in the future, they said.

Jackson's attempt to get copies of those recommendations is here.