RE: Checks on School Spending

  I am afraid that Mr. ZIMRING, DONALD is missing the point.

 What Mr. Parsons is describing is not an isolated excess.

 It is not just carpets and air-conditioning for the administrators.  At least that is useful (not for students, but still..).

 I know of a district which spent $20,000 on a computer system and on one computer per school for $4,000 each (it was some 5 years back) for the sole purpose of transffering daily ADA numbers from the school to the district office. The computer was in the school office, not in the classroom, there was not any computer lab for the students at the time. The district will remain unnamed, which is fine, since this is not an isolated case. What matters, students or ADA numbers???  Well - what brings in the money? I asked:  "why cann't we have the computer in the classroom and use it to transfer ADAs also"? "It would not be secure enough". Was the response. Sure!
 
All this talk about accountability:

 The ADA system never worked: Students are different. That's why we have all the special programs, bilingual money etc.  But, it still does not work. Mr. Soros talks about 'reflexivity' in the stock market: Market responds to what is said, even if the objective situation does not change.  We have a 'reflexitivity creep' in our educational system: Once you allocate money for 'bilingual education', the number of ESL students, who "need" them starts to grow. It does not matter that students do not need it and parents object.  If it brings money - it's good. And we will fill out all the papers it takes to get the last penny. Why not?

  Same creep will happen when even more complex ADA + corrections formula, as proposed, is be published. You may have to buy a supercomputer for each district, but you  will still not solve the basic problem, namely:
 
  Districts are required to fill out forms and to  make principals and teachers fill out forms. If they do not fill them out 'right' they get penalized.  That's accountability today. 

 I do not question the fact that many principals and some administrators work very hard. What I am asking is what all that has to do with learning?
   
 Mr. ZIMRING ??