Gotta Love Public School Accountability

This scandal revolving around whether or not the Santa Ana Unified School District scammed the state's class-size-reduction program in order to juke extra money takes me back to 1993, when I devoted a lot of my time volunteering on Prop. 174, the school voucher initiative.

I signed up as a volunteer speaker, meaning the campaign would send me to issue forums to speak for the initiative, usually in some kind of debate format. 9 times out of 10 I'd be squaring off against this Michael Kilbourne character from the Orange County Department of Education.

Kilbourne was their government affairs guy, as I recall, and a ferocious advocate for the status quo in public education. This was when John Dean was the superintendent of the OC Department of Education, and some readers may recall Dean's periodic op-eds in the LA Times maintaining that everything good in this Earth was the result of the public education and anyone who said there was anything wrong with public schools was absolutely misinformed. Dean was kind of the Baghdad Bob of public education.

But I digress.

One of the public school establishment talking points against Prop. 174 went as follows: since private schools operate under so much less regulation, how do we know the voucher money will be spent properly? All those regulations public schools must follow guarantees accountability for public dollars.

Kilbourne hammered that claim at every forum. It struck me as obviously false -- if for no other reason than these supposedly-accountable public schools were flagrantly violating state law by blatantly and unashamedly using public resources to campaign against the initiative.

Reading about the shenanigans at SAUSD is another reminder of how hollow those claims of accountability were then and still are today, as is this strange faith on the part of public school bureaucrats that red tape somehow equals accountability.

Comments

[redperegrine]

Public school accountability. The original oxymoron.

Classic: red tape equates to accountability.

But don't stop at K-12. The Junior Colleges are just as wasteful in their extravagances and in their complete lack of audits and oversight. They also enjoy even less public scrutiny than the school distrcts.

How about charter and private JCs?

[Ear to the Ground]

"Accountability" -- a word that public school administrators can't spell, don't understand and are completely afraid of.

Capistrano Unified is a great example. Interim Superintendent McCully came into CUSD promising honesty, accountability and reform. However, he quickly became compromised and began to make excuses for the individuals who had committed the corrupt practices of the past (and who still work at CUSD). McCully simply wanted to "move on" and brush all the dirt under the carpet. McCully did this, despite:

an unprecendented recall where more than 175,000 signatures were obtained to remove the entire board;

a criminal investigation by the District Attorney and Grand Jury;

a police raid of the school district headquarters by criminal investigators armed with search warrants;

Former Superintendent Fleming being forced to resign in disgrace and under criminal investigation;

a three-way landslide victory for the three reform candidates that ran against the incumbents in last November's elections;

CUSD being forced to admit they had lied to the public and provided "misinformation" about the source of funding for their new $52,000,000 administration building;

CUSD caught violating the Brown Act by conducting all day, secret meetings where all school district business was discussed and decided;

Etc., Etc, Etc.

Unless and until those that commit the corrupt acts in our public school system are truly held ACCOUNTABLE, nothing will change, the corruption will continue and the people will never trust the public school leadership.

This is why McCully failed at CUSD.

I hope the new Superintendent at CUSD, Dennis Smith from Placentia, takes note of this.

The people in CUSD will not rest until those that have lied to the public and committed the corrupt acts of the past are brought to justice and held accountable...and I hope the people of Santa Ana and throughout California similarly stand up and demand accountability from their public school leaders.

The system is broken, it's up to the people to demand it be fixed...NOW!

[Go Bruins!]

How about charter and private JCs?

It is called USC.

[Go Bruins!]

How about charter and private JCs?

It is called USC

[Fed Up With Corrupt School District Leaders]

Accountability is the most important thing in our democratic system. Too often, public school leaders "fly under the radar." We all need to realize we spend millions and millions on public education -- money that could have been better spent. Until we all start paying attention and holding the corrupt public school leaders accountable, then we get what we deserve. Kudos to those parents in Santa Ana and Capo Unified that stood up and said enough is enough.

[brian]

MEAN WHILE UP HERE IN MARIN
WHERE CAN I GET A DEAL LIKE THIS WITH PUBLIC MONEY?
ITS FOR THE CHILDREN RIGHT? (From Marin IJ)

"San Rafael schools Superintendent Laura Alvarenga has agreed to a retirement deal that will pay her more than $92,000.
The package includes a $28,500 bonus, $23,100 for unused vacation days, a $10,500 pay raise retroactive to July 1, and $30,000 in health benefits for her and her husband for the next five years, said Leah Reich, spokeswoman for the San Rafael City Schools. The Board of Education approved the deal March 26."