Dissatisfied yet

Almost every generation of Americans is dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, and when you think about how each group's expectations are working out these days, it begins to make sense. In Texas there has been a 'much to do' with regards to school financing. Threatened teacher layoffs, schools shutting down, and the list continues on and on and on..................

For many years this writer and several others have expressed concerns about the spending by local school districts without regards to where the money actually comes, and now the 'proof is in the pudding' and is starting to be revealed for the whole state to see. Lavish athletic facilities, performance halls, etc. were built all in the name of providing a better education for students. When in reality school districts of all levels were throwing taxpayer funds down a 'rat hole' in hopes that students would achieve a better education. Educating is not just a matter of money! Sure it helps; however, it only helps when it is used properly during the process of education.

A recent investigation into the spending habits of the Dallas ISD produced some interesting educational spending results. If the Dallas ISD has a problem determining how taxpayer money should be spent then every school district in the state most likely has the same problem for they all come from the same mold.

"Amid hardship protests, DISD spends lavishly" was the most recent editorial title from the Dallas Morning News. From a period beginning in 2006 through December 2010 the investigation uncovered $1.7 million for T-shirts and promotional trinkets. The DISD is like all school districts in the state for it has a captive audience; therefore, what is being promoted? When did school districts feel the need to compete for students?

Teachers and administrators for the DISD dined on rib-eye steaks while discussing teacher layoffs and budget cuts. When money gets tight at my house we discuss our budget cuts over a bowl of beans and cornbread. The investigative report has determined that the DISD mishandled, misspent, whatever you want to call it $81 million in taxpayer funds from 2006-2010. $81 million = 1,527 teaching positions within the DISD. Perhaps teachers should be conducting audits of their own school districts rather than spending time in Austin complaining about unfairness. Illegitimate expenditures undermine the legitimate concerns associated with the hardships that teachers and students will experience over the next two years. However, all school employees are only as good as their leader and in most cases their leaders were the biggest wasters of taxpayer funds. A case of 'monkey see, monkey do" is the necessary order of the school business in this state.

One additional example of bad decision making by the DISD (and countless other districts most likely) took place on June 7, 2011 when the district paid $2,406 to rent a ballroom at the Hilton Anatole and multi-media equipment for a district meeting. Are all the DISD school facilities filled with summer school students? With all the technology money handed out in the form of grants over the past ten years one would think that the DISD would have ample multi-media equipment available for such a meeting. Then again the $1.7 million spent on T-shirts most likely caused the technology staff to be laid off.