One of the more fascinating things about Richmond politics is that it combines roughness with dysfunction to such a degree that it becomes a form of art. The two strands are on full display here, where not just average folks, but a passel of school board members go at it in the comments section. Comment #20, from Carol Wolf, is eye-opening. Snip:
If this contract were “fair,” then this School Board would already require each school in the system to file “monthly written financial statements, including specifically all operating and non-operating expenses and sources of revenue.” [p.8 of the contract]. Additionally, each school should have to provide to the School Board a written consolidated financial report. [loc.cit].
We don’t. One need only read the audits of the RPS conducted by City Auditor Umesh Dalal to see that such a reporting requirement would greatly assist the taxpayers of this city to understand why it is that our per pupil costs are as high as they are.
And it just gets better… and more informative.
(HT: Jonathan Mallard… a Bacon’s regular who is also a candidate for the Richmond school board)