Seven years ago, the Cleveland school board pledged to give minority-owned firms 20 percent of its construction work. It also decreed that 20 percent would go to city residents, and 5 percent to companies owned by women.
But when it came to backing these pledges on the district’s $1.5 billion rebuilding project, the previous vows suddenly seemed like much too much work…
This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2008.