New York, NY —

City lawmakers say the Department of Education should follow the same standards as other agencies when awarding contracts. At a hearing today, lawmakers criticized the department for taking money away from the city's small businesses in favor of larger out of state companies. But the DOE's Chief Operating Officer Photo Anagnostopoulos, defends the decisions.

ANAGNOSTOPOULOUS: I realize that there is a lot of animosity in the room about this, but what we're looking for, as people who are working to support the schools, is what is best for the students. Which vendors will provide the best services for our kids.

She says the millions of dollars the Department of Education has saved through new vendor contracts have gone directly back into city schools.