Too Complicated for the Likes of You

In a supervisory union just a wee bit to the south of mine, there was a meeting  recently whose minutes reflect a very astute question from a member of the public.  The minutes say: "A question arose whether a comparison could be made regarding Central Office costs, as compared with another supervisory union of similar size, etc." 

Bingo!  That's called benchmarking.  Businesses do it.  My organization has been promoting EXACTLY that.  This watchful citizen should have felt proud.  But no doubt the answer left the questioner feeling deflated. "This would be difficult to compare," came the reply, "as there are too many variables and differences." 

Not, however, in the minutes were these words:  "Jeez, anybody knows that.  What's the matter with you?  Just trust us.  We'll deal with the complicated stuff."  Superintendents, you see, engage in discourse slightly above that of used car sales talk.

No, there aren't too many variables and differences.  Somebody PLEASE call these superintendents on these sorts of answers.  All the factors that superintendents blame their high spending on, like NCLB and fuel prices, are largely the same for schools of similar sizes.

What is different among supervisory unions is that superintendents are starting to pick up various expenses that used to go through local school budgets -- in order to get around voting.  If that makes their budgets seem high, well then that's their fault.

Comments

[G. Cross]

Well, Curt, I have to ask:

Just what specific costs are now in which specific SU budgets that were not there 5 years ago, 10 years ago and so on?

You can keep throwing out all kinds of charges, but at some point you really need to provide the specifics that support those charges. If your statement is true, "What is different among supervisory unions is that superintendents are starting to pick up various expenses that used to go through local school budgets -- in order to get around voting." it should be reasonably simple to document your charge. Specifics, Curt, not more innuendo. Which specific superintendent has arbitrarily moved which specific expenses into which specific SU budget in recent years? Every SU budget is a public record, so you should be able to document your charges with a little effort.

[Curtis Hier]

Well, clearly that's what SVSU and RNESU are doing. Why else are their budgets $14 million+ and $8 million+ respectively? It's not that they have taxpayer- funded Lear jets and vacation homes, is it? You tell us what it is.

If they are the only two doing it, okay, then they are outliers, and we can benchmark exactly as I recommended.

[G. Cross]

Curt, it is clear that you have no evidence to suport your claim that "superintendents are starting to pick up various expenses that used to go through local school budgets". What are these "various expenses"? When did they first appear in the SU budget? Who made the decision?

I do thank you for clarifying that it is not superintendents in general, but only two of the cohort, who are doing this dastardly deed. Since there are only two, you should be able to document your claim very easily. I look forward to your explanation.

[Curtis Hier]

You haven't convinced me that it's worth my time to sift through the data. I've got two great examples. Just the potential for the shell games that can be played justifies my pet piece of legislation that you like to criticize.

Say, I grant the point to you. Then my benchmarking idea works! And the superintendent "just a wee bit to the south" is full of horse manure.

You have a habit of challenging one little thing that I say and leaving the major point fully intact.

[G. Cross]

Curt, I have absolutely no problem with benchmarking, comparisons, etc. In fact, I would agree that the State Board of Education should be doing a much better job of providing that data to the general public. They collect the data and could easily put it into a format that allows voters the opportunity to more clearly understand school budgets. But they seem to have other irons in the fire.

My problem is that you make statements and refuse to provide any information to support them. I refuse to accept that just because you say it, it is fact. Other readers on this site may find your proclamations absolutely truths, I don't. Clearly, you have no intention of documenting your charges, so others will just have to decide for themselves which of us seems the most reasonable.

[Curtis Hier]

Thank you, George, for agreeing about benchmarking. On my website (www.fcevt.com), I have a quote at the top from Commissioner Cate extolling the virtues of benchmarking.

It's great when this forum can produce a discovery of common ground.

[Fred Edwards]

Read your "Games Fade" column. It almost reaches my level of complete disdain for professional sports (which includes big time college programs). At least professional soccer in Europe goes with the World Anti-Doping Agency and issues 2 year suspensions for first offence. But it'll never happen here!