New Website Allows Reporting
of School Waste

by Peggy Venable
Volume 8, Issue 34 Lone Star Report

Texans value education, teachers, and our children. We spend a lot of money on education – around $40 billion a year, according to the National Education Association.

But the education lobby always wants more – as much money, one lobbyist recently told the House Public Education Select Committee, as the Legislature will give.

For the past few weeks, many in Austin have spent countless hours attempting to find a politically viable mix of tax increases to give them exactly that. The halls of the Capitol are clogged with education representatives using our tax dollars to lobby legislators for more of our tax dollars.

But we, the taxpayers of Texas, have a right to ask: What are we getting for our money? Are our education dollars being used wisely and efficiently?

These are questions the education lobby would prefer we not ask. When educators and parents begin talking about waste and abuse in schools, they are often frustrated when their complaints are dismissed by school boards, or else they hesitate to speak out for fear of retaliation by school officials.

To help protect taxpayers' wallets and our children's future, Americans for Prosperity has created the Educator's Witness Protection Program, a website which gives voice to the concerns of countless teachers, administrators, parents, and taxpayers who want to stop wasteful spending in schools and direct more education dollars to the classroom.

Already this project has amassed some interesting material, including the following:

* Randy Pugh, a parent in the Keller ISD, in written testimony to the House Select Committee on Public School Finance, said he found his district had spent $1 million on storage for obsolete computers, which could not be sold because the loan hadn't been paid off.

* Newly released data from the Texas Education Agency show that Texas schools employ 289,481 teachers and 285,810 other staff. That's about one "other staff" for every teacher.

*One Central Texas teacher reported this week that her school district is discussing laying off 20 teachers. No mention of administrative staff layoffs.

* Some taxpayers complained that one superintendent's salary is over $335,000 a year (excluding benefits befitting Donald Trump's protégé) in a district rated "acceptable." The contract allows 10 days a year to consult with other districts (at additional taxpayer expense). I guess that is to tell other districts how to be similarly mediocre.

* Just this week, the Fort Worth Independent School District "reassigned" its superintendent - with full salary, vacation and sick days. The package totals around a half million dollars. During the superintendent's watch, a school district administrator and a district contractor pled guilty in federal court to tax evasion and mail fraud that cost the district about $10 million, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Another common complaint from teachers centered on wasteful spending on trivial teacher in-service programs. Here are a few examples:

* One Central Texas teacher said his district held "Emotional Intelligence" training, designed to make teachers, bus drivers, custodians, food service personnel, and others more aware of their feelings and emotions. They were encouraged to discuss their personal lives, draw pictures, and share thoughts about a variety of issues with colleagues. Attendance by all 4,800 district employees was mandatory. The teacher complained about the wasteful spending and reported, "Campus administrators made every effort to make my life a living hell."

* A teacher in East Texas revealed that while $1.6 million was spent for administrator leadership training in a district with only one high school, this teacher had "limited resources" for her special education children.

* Several teachers have reported that, after one district spent $4 million for a discipline management training program, it was quickly abandoned by many schools. Many teachers think the program is useless. (The program suggests that teachers who cannot resolve discipline problems using the program's techniques send disciplinary problems to another teacher to handle.) According to the program website, 20 school districts in Texas have purchased their services.

* Fort Worth recently allocated $196,206 to a new discipline program, according to the Star-Telegram. The program's website advises: "Students won't always remember what we teach them, but they will never forget how we treat them...teachers are to build relationships through kindness and praise."

Most parents and taxpayers are interested in what students learn. Many inside and outside the education community blame the "touchy, feely" education philosophy that ranks American students No. 1 in self-esteem, but lower in academics when compared to other countries.

More money for education may not be the answer but rather more education for our dollars.

It's all about spending. What if the state were to fund the classroom spending and local districts assume responsibility for other expenditures?

After all, most school tax increases are precipitated by threats of terminating teachers. I've never heard of a school district going to the voters pleading for more tax dollars for a newer car for the superintendent or to add 20 non-teaching positions. It's time we establish spending priorities.

Do you want to see how some of your education dollars are being spent? Do you have your own examples of wasteful spending to contribute? Check out this website: http://www.educatorswitnessprotectionprogram.com

Peggy Venable is Texas Director of Americans for Prosperity.