Cut The Crap, Not The Calendar
There’s a movement afoot to allow local school districts to trim South Carolina’s weekly school calendar from five to four days to deal with so-called budget “cuts,” despite the fact that these “cuts” amount to $88 million in reduced spending after over $900 million in increased spending over the previous four years - an equation that’s mirrored at the local level.
First of all, in a state that continues to lag behind the rest of the nation in academic achievement (even in our best districts), how exactly is “less school” going to make things better?
Oh, and this proposal also raises another question - how on earth did we ever manage to provide five-day schooling (such as it is) to our students last year at the not-so-bargain-basement price of $11,400 per child?
Frankly, this latest refusal by the educrat establishment to honestly address its fiscal situation smacks of the time-honored “Sesame Street” approach to dealing with budget reductions, in which agencies deliberately offer up the most shockingly necessary (or beloved) programs to the chopping block.
Forget trimming the administrative fat created by 85 school districts (and an even larger number of funding formulas), or cutting back on things like multiple spokespersons or wasteful travel expenses … the educrats want you to feel the pain directly.
Yesterday, we wrote about how wasteful higher ed spending could be substantially reduced by the creation of an online checkbook for all government agencies, a report which featured some troubling data from one of our state’s lowest-performing school districts.
Well, today our friends over at The Voice have another example of a “bureaucrat gone wild” during these difficult economic times, only this time he works for one of our so-called “high achieving” districts.
From the story …
Though 67% of students in the district are living in poverty, Ray has carved out an incredibly lucrative position for himself. In contrast to the families he “serves,” Ray makes an incredible $142,063 for leading and directing the under performing schools in District 3. This salary is over three times as much as the average family in his district, even before factoring in the $14,400 annual stipend for “local mileage,” and $1446 a year for dues to SCASA and the Rotary Club!
How do the schools under his care perform? Certainly Ray’s generous $151,909 salary package is justified by equally high performance?
Wrong. This is what the families in Spartanburg School District 3 are paying for (…)
The average 2008 SAT score in Spartanburg District 3 was only 1002, 15 points below the national average. Any claim at being a high achieving district is based on the notoriously underachieving districts elsewhere in South Carolina. Similar districts in North Carolina had average scores up to 177 points higher than the scores in Spartanburg District 3.
Apparently, Ray’s $14,400 in expenses wasn’t enough, though, as he ran up an additional $6,000 in “conference travel” costs last year, including two trips to conferences sponsored by the left-wing S.C. Association for School Administrators, our state’s taxpayer-funded bureaucratic union.
This guy owes the parents, teachers and students of his district an explanation. If local schools are considering cutting back on the school week just so educrats like Ray can keep drawing a fat salary and enjoying lavish trips to destinations like Kingston Plantation, then clearly we’ve got a priority problem in assessing our priorities when it comes to educating our kids.
And while we’re at it, there’s no excuse for Spartanburg educrats to continue blocking efforts aimed at consolidating the county’s school districts.
Simply put, millions of dollars in unnecessary administration shouldn’t be tolerated in any budget environment.
Comments
By BIN News on October 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
It warms the hearts of the BIN News Editorial Staff to see sic(k) will giving so much love to his evil twin over at VfSS - Voice for School Scams.
It is a little known fact they were separated from their mother at birth and raised by Howie’s family of pet wolves. Howie still feeds them $$,$$$ today.
Actually, sic(k) willie is quoting from the VfSS playbook because the hit count at that blog has sunk lower than will’s reputation. The toilet bowl.
Most endearing is the fact VfSS mentions 67% of children in that district live in poverty. Poverty! Like we always said, “It’s the poverty, stupid.” And the lack of adequate funding, the miserable standard of “minimally adequate,” the related social problems Howie cares nothing about, and more.
The voucher scam will leave behind the children who need help the most. That is why vouchers are a scam and voucher supporters are wolves.
Beware of the wolf. They bite and carry disease.
BIN News Editorial Staff
Always with Flair and Balance
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