MADISON, Wis. – The state Department of Public Instruction spent $264,000 on two annual contracts with a company that posts classified ads online for teaching jobs.

This despite two websites already run by state government – at no cost to users – that connect job seekers (including educators) with Wisconsin employers.

According to invoices obtained from DPI, the department entered into contracts in 2013 and 2014 with Teachers-Teachers.com Inc., a private firm that runs a website connecting teachers looking for work with school districts looking for teachers. The hefty annual fee – $132,000 – paid by DPI was non-refundable according to paperwork that accompanied the invoices. Teachers-Teachers.com required the department to pay the fee up front for 12 months of service, and said the fee would only be refunded if the website was “off-line for an unreasonable amount of time” or the number of teachers looking for jobs was “unreasonably small” or “unqualified.”

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

As a percentage of DPI’s budget, the Teachers-Teachers.com Inc. contract represents only a fraction of the department’s spending. But DPI has developed a habit of spending money on items that may not be completely necessary. Last November, Media Trackers noted that DPI spent nearly $300,000 on trips to Wisconsin Dells waterparks.

The first state government-run jobs website, JobCenterofWisconsin.com, is managed by the state Department of Workforce Development. According to its welcome page for employers, “Job Center of Wisconsin – [is] your number one, no-cost source for posting jobs and searching for candidates in Wisconsin.”

Job Center of Wisconsin currently features nearly 84,000 job openings and over 41,000 job candidates.

The second government-run job website in Wisconsin is Wisc.Jobs which is “The official employment site of Wisconsin state government.” DPI does make some use of this website already; there are 10 job openings at DPI listed on the website. The DPI jobs listed range from staff jobs in Madison to teaching jobs in locations around the state.

Just why DPI chose to contract with an outside firm for hundreds of thousands of dollars instead of using the two existing jobs websites already created by state government is unclear.

DPI Invoices:
3I 2254 Teachers-Teachers
Teachers-Teachers – 4I 2197

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

Authored by Brian Sikma

Published with permission