Durfee and Jaeckle fight bloated and mismanaged public schools

The Chesterfield Observer had these nuggets this week...

Citing concerns about the cost of debt service, Matoaca Supervisor Marleen Durfee and Bermuda Supervisor Dorothy Jaeckle last week cautioned against some items in the capital improvements plan (CIP) for Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS).

It looks like TWO Taxpayer Hero Awards are in order...

Durfee continued to focus on whether additional classroom space is needed when overcrowding can be remedied by redistricting. While Robious Middle is over capacity, there are vacant seats in adjacent districts at Providence and Midlothian middle schools.

Durfee hits it on the head

“We should not only consider deferring some projects but not having some projects,”

They went on to list the poor choices

• $13 M to Midlothian High with new gym, larger band room, and more office space
• $5.8M to Watkins Elementary 150 more seats, office renovations, and a new bus loop
• $9 M Clover Hill High HVAC replacement project

Remember that old Clover Hill is closing?  Nice!

“Is fixing [the HVAC at Clover Hill] and having the school sit empty for a year a wise use of [taxpayers’] money?” asked Durfee.

The Taxpayer has already covered the expensive technology plan; but, it is nice to see that these two supervisors ask the tough questions... They must know The Taxpayer

The supervisors also questioned whether the school system should spend $12.3 million on new technology upgrades over the next five years, asking whether CCPS can afford to keep up in today’s economic times.

Unfortunately, it appears the bloaters were hard at work.  First up Wyman.

“We have to maintain our competitiveness in technology... perhaps at the expense of something else.”

Then Rajah

“We’re stripping our kids of the opportunity to improve their horizons.  That’s going down a dangerous road…if kids fall behind in technology.”

The Taxpayer knows plenty of kids that can dance technological circles around their grown-up counterparts without spending $12.3M that should be returned to the private sector.  We know technology is fine; when there are jobs in the private sector to use them in.  Look at this fancy quote from Sunny Reed, VP of Friends of the CC Public Libraries.

“There are a lot of kids who don’t own computers and use the computers at the library to work on school projects. If you limit the amount of time the libraries are open, you limit students’ access to computers and other resources. That creates an uneven playing field,”

A noble organization with a noble cause; however, how many kids do you see playing games on those library computers?  So now they cannot PLAY GAMES on Thursdays.  Time are tough in Chesterfield.  Keep those scissors at the ready.

Virtual Classrooms flourish while your Chesterfield school falls down

The Taxpayer is foaming at the mouth with this latest story from the RTD

In January, the School Board adopted a $12.3 million, five-year technology plan, which includes $3 million for the mobile-technology pilot program. A committee of administrators and teachers is looking at using cell phones, iPod Touches and netbooks to start a pilot program in the classroom.  

So, of course this would be eliminated in the new budget, because we can't afford to maintain our existing schools, correct? Oh no... First up School Board Chairman of Bloat Wyman:

"To say that we won't need these type of technologies in order for these kids to be competitive I think is not correct,"

Next up Bloat Member Rajah

Schools would move down a dangerous road if students are not given an opportunity to learn with the emerging technology. "We have to get our kids ready," he said.

So a school roof and HVAC system is not important?  I know we can pretend we study in virtual classrooms made on our shiny new computers.  Those classrooms would be WAAAY cooler than the stinky classrooms we have today.  I know why don't we create virtual classrooms and outsource our teachers to India. 

Bangalore-based TutorVista, which provides online tutoring to students in about 12 countries, appears to have created a revolution of sorts in the business. It is providing unlimited online tutoring for just $100 per month.


"Americans are getting good-quality, personalized tutoring for their children at a daily cost that amounts to less than what they would spend on a cup of Starbucks coffee," said Krishnan Ganesh, founder and chief executive officer of TutorVista.

But of course there is opposition to affordable education...who could it be?

But there is some opposition to outsourcing education from sections in the US. Teachers' unions, for instance, are opposed to jobs going overseas. They are lobbying for legislation that would make it more difficult for overseas tutors to receive No Child Left Behind funds. There are also questions about the quality of teaching, the impersonal nature of online tutoring, and so on.

So when are we closing some schools and encouraging non-monopolized, free market education? When are we going to innovate away from the K through 12 factory mentality with our children's education? Would it have happened already if not for the entrenched special interests?  Shouldn't our children be the smartest in the world because of the system that their parents select to meet their needs; instead of one being handed to them by the special interests?  Why are there so many laws, rules, taxes, regulations regarding education?  Who is the government protecting, the system with their special interests or the children? 

Let's face it, education is a big business in Chesterfield county.  The business end does not care about your child, it only cares about its growth and self-preservation.  Your child's education would look completely different if it were the other way around.  Instead, we have the 1925 model that only socialism loves.

Robbing Virginia's Retirement Funds to put off tough decisions

From today's Chesterfield Observer and here...

One of the school board’s last remaining hopes for a budget bailout was dashed 

So now the bloat has to deflate??  Not so fast according to BOS Art Warren...

“There are still options available to us.”

Huh? Or this quote from Dorothy Jaeckle...

“If we had a revenue neutral tax rate all along, I could support revenue neutral."

What does that mean? Obviously the hole in the bucket has a fix and The Taxpayer hopes it isn't The Taxpayer's heiney.  The CO reminds us that the property tax is only 45% of the revenue stream.

We interrupt this program for some bad bloat karoake sung by:
Tenor School Board Chairman David Wyman:

“Obviously, I’m disappointed that they didn’t consider the tax rate increase,”
“I remain uncomfortable about what kind of funding we’re going to get from the state,”
“It’s been a rough couple of months."
"We have tried to work through the issues to help people understand the difficult straights we are in."

Bass Vice-Chairman Marshall Trammell

“It means we’re going back to our second list of cuts and potentially look at some additional things as well"
“They are already taking a hit, and we don’t want to add to that,”

Alto  BOS Marleen Durfee

“The state has not stepped up to the plate and done its job,”

That sound of fingernails on the chalkboard... Yes... we have a bad case of Chesterfield Idol.

The Taxpayer needs something soothing... Jaeckle recovers nicely with a tune about fighting the bloat

“more scrutiny of expenses.” CCPS has “too many people and programs” and should be “giving back responsibilities to parents and students…We’ll come away stronger for it,”

Jim Holland hits the chorus in perfect pitch

“reductions are difficult to make…but we can maintain our core services.”

Art Warren takes us to the bridge and drives it home...

“We have to be realistic about what the future might bring…Families are cutting back, [so] this is the time to take a deep breath and become more fiscally responsible.”

Now to the heart of the problem...

The state is considering giving school divisions a “holiday” from paying into the Virginia Retirement System. If approved, that measure would save the school system $16 million for FY11. But the holiday would not be a long-term solution to the school system’s budget problems since it would only be in effect for one or two years.

The School Board is only planning for the short term bandaid fix.  Last year it was the "stimulus" funds that went right into school operations.  This year they are plugging the gap with funding that should be reserved for retirement funds.  Do you see a trend?  Instead of strategic cuts that will get us to a sustainable budget.  we get a bunch of bandaids and we are convinced it is merely a flesh wound.  We need a tourniquet stat, it just might save our life and surely we will bleed to death without it.