Imagine a school system that has approximately 4500 students, 7 schools, and a budget of $100 million dollars (when $8 million in grants is included). That’s about $23,000 per student. Theoretically, that would be a school system with the best academic scores in the state, right? Maybe even the country.
One would think. But, that’s not the case in Talbot County, Maryland. In this small Eastern Shore County, accountability takes a back seat to spending on peripheral programs and state mandates.
Proof Of Concept?
Everyone who is a businessperson or an investor knows that huge investments in businesses don’t come without proof of concept, proof of prior success, and accountability. Not so if you run a Maryland public school system. As we have seen over the past decades, public schools don’t have to show improvement in student academic achievement in order to get tens of millions of dollars from the taxpayers. In fact, in the public school system, the more unsuccessful one is, the more money you can ask for and receive.
Maryland Public Schools have learned that lesson well.
On Monday, February 9, the Talbot County Public Schools presented a budget of $90,900,690 million dollars in a budget workshop. Then, two days later, they changed that budget to $92,345,690, 1 million, four hundred and forty-five thousand more. In just two days.
Excluding $8 million from grants, this is a 13.282% increase over last year’s budget of $81,526,613.
In a school board meeting on Wednesday, February 11, Talbot County Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Sarah Jones attributed that change partially to some mistakes in figures presented on Monday night. While I don’t doubt what she says, it seems unusual because Jones doesn’t make mistakes like that often.
Return on investment not a priority when you’re spending OPM.
i always liked how these school districts get away with their bs audits. Nothing is ever exposed just accounted for. Yeah the money was spent but no need to actually track how or what the millions were spent on or for, just another grift by a bunch of commie demonic liberal pos’s!
days coming when it all comes crashing down… then what?