Palm Beach School District Earns an “A” Grade for Transparency
For Immediate Release
Palm Beach School District Earns an “A” Grade for Transparency
Sunshine Review Kicks off Back to School Florida Project
Chicago, August 21 – The government transparency website Sunshine Review (www.sunshinereview.org), a project of the Sam Adams Alliance, is proud to announce the launch of Back to School Florida, beginning with its release of Palm Beach County’s transparency grade.
As kids head back to class, Sunshine Review is encouraging parents to take a closer look at their children’s school district and learn how their tax dollars are being spent. The Sunshine Review community has completed transparency evaluations for all school districts in the Sunshine State, providing crucial information to parents and taxpayers alike who value a transparent and accountable government.
“There is more to running a school than term papers and syllabuses,” said Kristin McMurray, managing editor of Sunshine Review. “Parents need to find out what their school board is up to and if their tax dollars are being properly allocated.”
Back to School Florida officially launches September 1, but Sunshine Review is rolling out its report for Palm Beach County schools early. After analyzing the district website against its ten-point transparency checklist, Sunshine Review commends Palm Beach County schools for earning an “A” for both its openness and its accessible information.
Sunshine Review’s transparency checklist itself is a thorough, useful education tool that evaluates the online accessibility of budgets, meetings, elected and administrative officials, academics, background checks, audits, contracts, public records and taxes. Palm Beach County schools received high marks for making all this information available online, with the exception of disclosing complete information on taxes.
“Palm Beach County is one of only five school districts in Florida to receive an “A,” said McMurray. “But we would urge the school to strive for additional transparency by providing the missing tax information on its website.”
During the evaluation process, the Sunshine Review community discovered important information about Palm Beach County schools that students, parents and teachers will find invaluable.
• The district is one of twenty-seven that have registered lobbying activities, allocating over $326,000 dollars on such efforts in 2009.
• Of the twenty-seven school districts with registered lobbying efforts, Palm Beach was one of only three that provided information after receiving FOIA requests.
• Palm Beach has one of the five highest budgets in the state and has the second lowest percentage (16) of their budget dedicated to teachers’ salaries.
• The district received over $29,000,000 dollars under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Sunshine Review is excited to provide Florida parents; teachers and taxpayers with the power of the information in the Back to School Florida initiative. Visit Sunshinereview.org today to see how open and honest your school district is.
Contacts:
Kristin McMurray, Managing Editor
Sunshine Review
312-920-0080 ext. 311
kmcmurray@samadamsalliance.org
Sunshine Review is a wiki website that collects and shares information about transparency, government spending, political corruption, taxpayer-funded lobbying, and open-records laws. It provides a way for citizens to keep tabs on their government, hold it accountable, and reform wasteful, fraudulent, and corrupt behavior uncovered by measures of transparency.
