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$3k Here… $3k There…

Mark Belling reported today a telling story about the West Bend School District.  Just like with the story of the district spending hundreds of the taxpayers’ dollars to take the school board and leadership team out to dinner, it’s not a huge story.  But it illustrates a mindset.

School is closed for students next Wednesday for the teachers to have an in-service day.  As part of that, according to Belling, they are flying in Julie Causton-Theoharis from Syracuse University to present to the teachers. Cost?  $3,000.  I don’t know if that’s just the fee or also includes travel costs. 

Were there no experts on education in Wisconsin?  Could the teachers not just buy her book?  Will the kids see a tangible ROI on that $3,000? 

If you look at just the $3,000 for this and the $1,500 or so for the dinners, that’s the equivalent of the tax increase for roughly 45 homes.  That’s an entire neighborhood that wouldn’t have to carry a tax increase if they would just knock off this kind of spending.  The argument that the budget has been cut to the bone and that there isn’t any way to control spending without cutting programming is demonstrably false. 

Here’s Belling’s podcast.  It starts on this topic at about the 6:00 mark.

Posted by Owen at 1921 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

1. Private companies should stop doing professional development seminars too.  Imagine how much cheaper our cars and clothes and Cheetos would be if companies weren’t trying to help their employees learn new things that might help them in their jobs.  Let’s instead complain about how public school teachers are overpaid and do a bad job teaching kids, and then let’s also complain when a school district does something to try and make them better teachers.  Better our nation’s employees remain intellectually stagnant.  That’ll serve us well.

   You present no evidence as to what would be a reasonable expense in your mind when it comes to hiring an educational consultant.  You’re just throwing around empty and unsupported rhetorical questions designed to prejudice your reader towards your point of view while not having to give them any facts.

   You don’t seem to know whether the school district looked in-state.  You don’t seem to know their motives for selecting this woman.  You don’t seem to know much of anything about this, actually, but it’s not stopping you from having an opinion.

   You should ditch the blog and get a radio show.  I think you’re finally ready.

   Posted by Recess Supervisor on October 19, 2009 at 2043 hrs
   
   
   

2. If a car or Cheetos cost too much, we don’t have to buy them…

   Posted by Smeety on October 19, 2009 at 2103 hrs
   
   
   

3. I’ll start caring what Mark Belling says or thinks about the West Bend district when he lives in the West Bend district.  Until then, he’s just a blowhard.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 19, 2009 at 2121 hrs
   
   
   

4. he’s just a blowhard.

   Agreed. He is obsessed with the West Bend District and now apparently with roundabouts. Wow.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 19, 2009 at 2150 hrs
   
   
   

5. I like Belling, I should rent him property so he comes to school board meetings and gets more involved. By the way the city budget looks like a zero levy increase , they do understand what recession is. Next Wednesday instead of spending 3 grand on Ms Julie perhaps have Melvin speak to the board on how to properly prepare a budget in a down economy.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 19, 2009 at 2248 hrs
   
   
   

6. Read the bio on Mrs. Theoharis, she’s a special ed “expert”.  I guess I’ve made enough points in other replies about Queen Zarling’s eleven+ million dollar department budget and the drain it puts on the regular ed program.

   But I’m also going to concede the point that a few percent points of the special ed budget does come from fed and state grants, and it is entirely possible that those grants come with earmarks or have earmarks written into them in order to get the grant.  In other words, neither I nor Mark Belling nor Mark Maley know whether or not the $2500 is paid by local tax dollars.  It might, but it might not be. 

   And there’s my problem with Belling.  He’s a shock jock and would never stoop so low as to do any real thorough investigating.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 19, 2009 at 2300 hrs
   
   
   

7. This is an educational scam throughout the nation.  School districts bring in “experts”.  But part of the problem is that the Feds require it.  At my school I teach at, we are a Title 1 school and by law, we required to have inservices and bring in “experts”.  All of this is a scam.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 0053 hrs
   
   
   

8. #7

   Scam: “a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation”

   Please explain specifically how “This is an educational scam”

   I’m not challenging, just looking for clarification as to what the fraudulent or deceptive act is.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 0610 hrs
   
   
   

9. What a suprise I did not see this on the budget cut list. This is no different than the milw. school district. These people think this is their personal entertainment budget. Milw cries they have no tolet paper in the high school yet they have millions to spend on travel, They found $200000 to fight off the mayoral take over. West bend is no different just a little smaller scale.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 0610 hrs
   
   
   

10. Looks like the tax and spenders are out in full force.

    I think Belling hit it on the head. His coments on administrators the other day was right on.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 0617 hrs
    
    
    

11. As far as Belling goes the only people that don’t like him are the ones that he exposes. I think he is great I find out about all kinds of waste the goverment and school boards try to keep secret. I am pretty sure there would be no rally if this “expert” seminar had to be cancelled.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 0619 hrs
    
    
    

12. As far as cars and cheetos go, When I get a bill in the mail from frito lay to buy someone else cheetos and if I don’t pay it they will take my house, then yes I will have somthing to say about them. As far as how this is not local taxes so no problem, Where does the state and fed get their money?
    Its this additude that has given us a 12 trillion dollar debt.
    ITS ALL OUR MONEY!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 0639 hrs
    
    
    

13. reaper/max tax, pick a name and stick with it.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 0745 hrs
    
    
    

14. You present no evidence as to what would be a reasonable expense in your mind when it comes to hiring an educational consultant.  You’re just throwing around empty and unsupported rhetorical questions designed to prejudice your reader towards your point of view while not having to give them any facts.

    There is not justifiable or reasonable expense from a public school district for something like this.

    If a public school teacher wants to learn new methods, or further their knowledge they should use their own money to go to graduate school. Heck, they’d even get a pay bump for it.

    I’d like for you to give some empirical data that supports the notion that flying this woman to Wisconsin for an evening is going to provide more than $3000 in utility for the West Bend Public Schools…. PROVE to me that there is ANY ROI for something like this, in a public institution.

    Or are you just throwing around rhetoric in defense of lousy public budgeting because you CLEARLY dine from the same trough.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 0757 hrs
    
    
    

15. I read somewhere that only 10% of the information received by the brain of a person with average intelligence, is actually retained.

    When you listen to a speech you remember a small amount.

    Would it not be better to have a program to hand out and read repeatedly until you can retain maybe 90% of the info.

    This is similar to a teacher instructing their students, that I am sure that educators will be offended by the suggestion

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 1320 hrs
    
    
    

16. We all could debate wether or not this is a state required training or not and to be frank I dont know. However, why wouldnt a packet of information present out and a video or telle converance accomplish the same thing? This would accomplish a training “requirement” while saving a couple thousand dollars.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 20, 2009 at 1535 hrs
    
    
    

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