School districts and school boards took it on the chin at the Assembly Budget Committee hearing this past Thursday April 10^th.   When I put this meeting on my schedule, I expected it to be the “same old, same old.”  I would hear the Commissioner Davy give the same presentation I have heard many times.

As luck would have it, the day before her testimony, news broke of some financial irregularities that allegedly occurred in Union City. Apparently, overtime was paid to bus drivers for charging cell phones; there were also additional issues uncovered by the Department of Education’s audit of Union City. While the situation, if true is bad news for Union City, it actually affects all school districts, if only because lamwkers tend to lump together all of us together inaccurately and unfairly.  As I stated in a previous blog, Paying for the mistakes of others perceptions of all school districts can be sullied by the actions of one.  (more…)