CHOOSE WISELY, GRASSHOPPER

I would venture to said that the SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT is the most powerful single person in town. Think about it, that office controls around 50% of the city budget.

The city is mandated to give a certain percentage of revenue to LPS. Our city government only has control over the small excess it chooses to give. For the majority of the LPS budget our elected city officials are impotent when it comes to affecting that amount.

Most of the day to day expenditures never see the light of scrutiny. Most of the times our duly elected LSC members are left to rule on policies and comment on expenses after they have been generated and the bills have been paid.

Even once they have been exposed, there is little they can do about it. Take for example the MAYOR'S recent very public examination of LPS's fiscal atrocities, the revelation that LPS was paying $8000 a day each for two consultants who lived at the same address sparked outrage.

But, you know what? Nothing was done about it. WHY? Because nothing could be done about it. The news came to light at a "meeting of the whole" where no votes were taken. None could be taken. Ah yeah, we were all told that this pair of consultants had suspended their services when wind of this exposure was leaked.

But did you also hear it mentioned that if we didn't provide the services that these two consultants provided we were going to have to pay a ton of grant money back? I would guess that this "consulting" will find it's way back into the budget and no one will notice. GOD SAVE THE GRANT MONEY!

The GRANT money provides the potential for the greatest degree of abuse and it's out of the purview of local oversight. Yes, federal, state, or even foundations can be pretty stringent and at the same time they can be pretty lose at times. Accountants love this stuff. It's all just a shell game and we choose the shells.

Take the recent STATE MANDATED COMPLIANCE OFFICER. I would guess that what should have been a PENALTY to LPS probably turned out to be a benefit to a few selected people. Rumour has it that the person who got the FAT administrative job had been sequestered in the dungeons of COMMERCIAL STREET after tangling with the queen at her previous position at the ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL. Because the GRANT funding her isolation was running out, it was opportune that this so-called penalty provided the perfect opportunity to have her return from seclusion paid for by state provided monies. This is all just a poet's speculation.

In order that the superintendent share the wealth with friends, a new DEPUTY position was not only created but the credentials were tailored just so a particular person would be privy to the position. I might be  wrong, but tell me how many candidates were interviewed for the position?

All of this to keep the superintendent happy. You see in so many ways our kids are held hostage to the whims of the superintendent and the ransom is their future. As parents, no sacrifice is to great for the welfare of our children. As such the superintendent, any superintendent holds a metaphorical gun to our heads. Study hard and nobody gets hurt! Don't you want to have confidence in the person who has their finger on the trigger? WE MUST HAVE THE BEST PERSON POSSIBLE FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS AT THAT POSITION.