Need money for Schools? Get it here first :-/
Yet another example of waste in government spending
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JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
It's hard to visit the Joe User political forums without running into threads complaining about the need to raise taxes (from some very repetitive parties) so that budgets can be balanced and we can get back to spending for necessities.
Well, before we again discuss raising taxes, perhaps we really should look at spending again (which is where I hold we should always start to begin with).
As an example, check out the following news item from The Washington Times. (headline is linked).
D.C. princes take from the paupers
By Jim McElhatton
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Thousands of dollars in federal funds intended to assist poor D.C. schoolchildren appear to have been spent instead by school administrators on retreats and unapproved travel.
D.C. auditors are looking into the public school system's use of these federal funds.
"You had at least principals and some other managers participating," Deborah K. Nichols of the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor says. "No cost was spared."
Mrs. Nichols disclosed the inquiry at an oversight hearing by the D.C. Council's Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation.
D.C. public schools received more than $10 million in 2004 for after-school programs, according to city documents. Under the proposed fiscal 2006 budget, the programs would receive more than $13 million, which includes federal money and private donations.
Auditors discovered the travel disbursements when they looked into expenditures of money earmarked last year for after-school child care programs -- including federal Temporary Aid for Needy Families grants. The grants are meant to provide child care from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. to thousands of city students from low-income families.
Officials at the auditor's office said the travel and retreat expenses involved "thousands of dollars." They said the D.C. public school system fired at least one employee as a result of the audit findings, but would not identify the employee.
The audit findings are expected to be released within the next few months.
Auditors also are looking into whether money was spent for computers for students who did not participate in the after-school activities.
Superintendent Clifford B. Janey said the school system is cooperating fully with the auditor's office, the D.C. Office of the Inspector General and school-system auditors.
"We continue to cooperate with Mrs. Nichols' office," he said.
The auditor's office has issued eight audits on the school system since 2001, including one on the number of annual salaries exceeding $90,000. The findings of that audit are expected to be released next month, officials said. Auditors used subpoenas to obtain the payroll figures.
Mrs. Nichols said findings of mismanagement have surfaced repeatedly in previous inquiries. The office has made 107 recommendations to improve school system operations in the past four years but fewer than half have been acted on, she said.
So, yet again, we find at least in one locality (which is probably representative of many others, including areas like NYC, San Francisco, L.A., Detroit, Chicago, etc.) that we have a standard that lets people that are supposed to be spending federal money -- your tax money and mine -- for education spending it instead on travel junkets and other items, none of which meet the intended purpose of the grants, or funding requirements.
I'm tired (as if that isn't obvious) of reading the same carping about taxes needing to be raised to prior historical levels, knowing that crap like this is going on.
There are many other examples, such as funding for the arts (which many people, including myself, complain don't get enough attention in schools) which is spent funding art that doesn't even deserve to use the title. Crucifixes in jars of urine as an example. Why is anyone spending even a penny of federal money to even remotely support that "work" as art when that money could and should be spent to buy Tempra paints for K-12 children that might actually learn in the process?
Money for music programs, again an area that has seen short shriff over time -- how about getting that from these managers and principals?
In any case, there are literally thousands of examples of places where the government is every day wasting money to do things in the most stupid manner possible. Instead of using tele-conferences, they have retreats. Instead of e-mail, they use long distance calls. Instead of faxes, they use Fed-Ex first priority.
Lets cut that crap first and foremost, and then see how much money is available without ever raising an additional dime in taxes at any level. With those "cuts" in place, we might seriously find that the amount of additional revenue that is needed is a negative number, and the amount of further tax cuts that could be made could be a fairly nice chunk of change.
Well, before we again discuss raising taxes, perhaps we really should look at spending again (which is where I hold we should always start to begin with).
As an example, check out the following news item from The Washington Times. (headline is linked).
D.C. princes take from the paupers
By Jim McElhatton
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Thousands of dollars in federal funds intended to assist poor D.C. schoolchildren appear to have been spent instead by school administrators on retreats and unapproved travel.
D.C. auditors are looking into the public school system's use of these federal funds.
"You had at least principals and some other managers participating," Deborah K. Nichols of the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor says. "No cost was spared."
Mrs. Nichols disclosed the inquiry at an oversight hearing by the D.C. Council's Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation.
D.C. public schools received more than $10 million in 2004 for after-school programs, according to city documents. Under the proposed fiscal 2006 budget, the programs would receive more than $13 million, which includes federal money and private donations.
Auditors discovered the travel disbursements when they looked into expenditures of money earmarked last year for after-school child care programs -- including federal Temporary Aid for Needy Families grants. The grants are meant to provide child care from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. to thousands of city students from low-income families.
Officials at the auditor's office said the travel and retreat expenses involved "thousands of dollars." They said the D.C. public school system fired at least one employee as a result of the audit findings, but would not identify the employee.
The audit findings are expected to be released within the next few months.
Auditors also are looking into whether money was spent for computers for students who did not participate in the after-school activities.
Superintendent Clifford B. Janey said the school system is cooperating fully with the auditor's office, the D.C. Office of the Inspector General and school-system auditors.
"We continue to cooperate with Mrs. Nichols' office," he said.
The auditor's office has issued eight audits on the school system since 2001, including one on the number of annual salaries exceeding $90,000. The findings of that audit are expected to be released next month, officials said. Auditors used subpoenas to obtain the payroll figures.
Mrs. Nichols said findings of mismanagement have surfaced repeatedly in previous inquiries. The office has made 107 recommendations to improve school system operations in the past four years but fewer than half have been acted on, she said.
So, yet again, we find at least in one locality (which is probably representative of many others, including areas like NYC, San Francisco, L.A., Detroit, Chicago, etc.) that we have a standard that lets people that are supposed to be spending federal money -- your tax money and mine -- for education spending it instead on travel junkets and other items, none of which meet the intended purpose of the grants, or funding requirements.
I'm tired (as if that isn't obvious) of reading the same carping about taxes needing to be raised to prior historical levels, knowing that crap like this is going on.
There are many other examples, such as funding for the arts (which many people, including myself, complain don't get enough attention in schools) which is spent funding art that doesn't even deserve to use the title. Crucifixes in jars of urine as an example. Why is anyone spending even a penny of federal money to even remotely support that "work" as art when that money could and should be spent to buy Tempra paints for K-12 children that might actually learn in the process?
Money for music programs, again an area that has seen short shriff over time -- how about getting that from these managers and principals?
In any case, there are literally thousands of examples of places where the government is every day wasting money to do things in the most stupid manner possible. Instead of using tele-conferences, they have retreats. Instead of e-mail, they use long distance calls. Instead of faxes, they use Fed-Ex first priority.
Lets cut that crap first and foremost, and then see how much money is available without ever raising an additional dime in taxes at any level. With those "cuts" in place, we might seriously find that the amount of additional revenue that is needed is a negative number, and the amount of further tax cuts that could be made could be a fairly nice chunk of change.