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December 3, 2008 by
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The Michigan education unions have a terrible problem. You see, education unions prefer to operate in the dark, with no real oversight, and no actual transparency or accountability to the taxpayers they rely on for jobs. It’s kind of one of those deals that if everyone gets paid, nobody gets hurt.
The folks involved in the (EAG) think it’s high time to turn the lights on to see how tax dollars are spent in schools, how funds might be maximized, and to bring it all out in the open- teacher pay vs. union negotiator pay, contract negotiations, benefits agreements, political plays by unions… all of that juicy stuff. They’ve caused quite a , which is a good thing if you pay into the Michigan school system.
Recently, to obtain emails from Wayne-Westland Education Association president Nancy Strachan’s taxpayer-funded e-mail account. EAG is curious to find out the role the union is playing in a recall election of a couple of school board members that aren’t giving the union all they want, and also information on a recent illegal strike. Today, the Michigan Education Association against the school district to stop them from releasing the emails.
Filing a lawsuit to stop transparency? So predictable. Opening up school spending to parents, vendors, watchdog groups, and taxpayers? Now that’s the (high) road less traveled. Michigan Education Association, I suggest you look for ideas.
To find out how to file Freedom of Information Requests (and really, all things FOIA), go to the on Sunshine Review.
nexium online
October 23, 2008 by
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A friend of mine that is a school superintendent always grumps and grouses when I push him to open up his school’s books to taxpayers. He’s generally a good government guy, and has even lobbied for sunshine legislation in other areas, but seems to have a real problem with demands for school transparency. My argument to him is always this: Using our education dollars wisely, including through competitive bidding and purging wasteful expenditures, increases the value each student receives through those tax monies. More efficiency = more dollars in classrooms = better education for the next generation of leaders. Apparently, I am not the only one that feels this way.
Yesterday, an titled nexium online ran in nexium online, calling out the Oklahoman Education Association for pushing through the HOPE ballot initiative. This initiative would, according to , nexium online That would mean a huge increase in education spending for the state of Oklahoma.
More money is great, right? Well, not so fast.
Groups like , , , and the as well as many legislators and newspapers have come out against the initiative because they say it would bankrupt the state and put existing projects and proposals on the chopping block. Another, very important reason these groups are in opposition is because does not currently require transparency in education dollars, leaving taxpayers in the dark on how their money is spent now. No new transparency will be required with the new proposal- just more money.
The sums it up well: (I’m borrowing liberally- hope the ed board doesn’t mind…)
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If the OEA wants more credibility, they need to be open to taxpayers. If they need suggestions on how to do this, check out the and the ‘s .
Read unbiased information about the OEA HOPE ballot initiative .
nexium online
October 8, 2008 by
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I was perusing the new and fabulous when I came upon a describing the bullying tactics is using against Riccardo A. Mora of Norridge, Illinois. Mr. Mora’s offense? Too many FOIAs, that is, he requested 21 Freedom of Information requests since February 08.
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Wow- using public information gathered from the school district to become informed on a bonding-type issue seems… radical? The school board apparently thought so, as they retained the services of the Schartz, Lipton and Taylor law firm of Chicago to deal with Mr. Mora’s FOIA requests. The firm sent a letter letting Mr. Mora know they are keeping an eye on him.
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Read the rest of the law firm’s letter .
Mis-using FOIA? What is the purpose of the ? Well, in Illinois, the purpose can be found in :
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(emphasis mine)
Sounds like Mr. Mora is doing exactly what the Act was designed to enable- citizen activism and oversight. Here’s an idea: Ridgewood High School District 234 should volunteer to be more open with taxpayers, so FOIAs aren’t necessary to see how their tax dollars are spent. (See the for ideas.)
Furthermore… schools should consider teaching children how to petition their government through FOIA requests as a way to bring civics back into the classroom. This would promote citizen involvement and allow more people to keep and eye on what’s happening behind the doors of government. After all, Responsible Citizens = Responsive Government.
nexium online
August 21, 2008 by
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I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight and their campaign to bring accountability and transparency to all levels of government in Texas.
Recently, , posted the first in what the organization promises to be a series of hard hitting videos and public statements asking the tough questions about what exactly are the taxpayers of Texas are getting for their dollars in education and other government services.
This video is about 8 minutes in length and I encourage you to take a look even if you do not live in Texas because every taxpayer should be asking these types of questions from their elected officials.
Senator Hendon, allow me the honor of helping you out with a little Public Service 101. You do not “deserve” taxpayer money. You’re not entitled to it. It is not a prize to deliver to campaign workers. It is entrusted to you by your constituents and the hardworking taxpayers of Illinois to be used for legitimate, worthy, quality programs that benefit the people that pay your salary.
Learn this lesson: Transparency, and a competitive bidding process, is necessary in ALL instances where tax dollars are used.
nexium online
June 19, 2008 by
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This scandal is getting scant attention by the mainstream media but it appears that Chairman of the US Senate Budget Committee U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) got a sweetheart deal from the mortgage firm Countrywide. This scandal comes as a blow to Conrad who has always campaigned on his ethics and honesty. I guess Kent Conrad is just like every other Washington politician!
According to news reports Conrad, appears to have changed his story numerous times about his ties to the CEO of Countrywide and the kickbacks he received on his mortgage.
Fellow Democrats Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) are caught up in the same scandal.
North Dakota’s finest political blog, , has been on top of this scandal since it broke. I encourage you to read each of these posts and become informed.
The story has gotten some attention on Fox News. This clip is courtesy of sevenload.com
Link:
This just proves that you do not need to be from a big state to have politicians with ethical lapses in judgment.
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June 11, 2008 by
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I have been tracking the progress of the North Dakota Policy Council (NDPC) and their battle to bring transparency to government in North Dakota. One of the highlights of their transparency program has been the development of a website called which is designed to track the spending and budgets of every school district in North Dakota.
Over the past few months I have posted extensively on their website and its progress. If you want to read these posts just visit nexium online; and nexium online
Well now the main stream media has begun to pay attention to the transparency revolution being led by the NDPC. This past weekend the , North Dakota’s 3rd largest newspaper did a great story about the website. I encourage you to read the story nexium online and see the impact that just a few people have been making on the issue of transparency.
I got a chuckle from the quote by North Dakota State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state’s highest education official, where he admits using the website to look up information just that morning.
I am quoting from the Sunshine on Schools website, nexium online I must ask myself the following question – Why did the Superintendent of Public Instruction have to go to Sunshine on Schools website to get information that should be available on his department’s website?
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June 10, 2008 by
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I ran across this editorial from while surfing the net today. Thank goodness there is at least one old media outlet crying out for election integrity and urging elected officials to ensure free and fair elections … or at least not allowing corpses to vote.
Here is the editorial from their website.
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to read the full story on the website.
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June 9, 2008 by
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I about Adam Andrzejewski’s organization, For The Good of Illinois, and its quest to open up government entities to taxpayer scrutiny. After my post went live, Andrzejewski had his first mega-victory in working with board member and budding transparency icon David Carlin to open up ‘s books. (Coincidence? I think not.) COD’s annual budget is $140 mil, so knowing the vendors and reasons for expenditures will be a great step in holding the board officials to a gold standards of ethics.
The good folks at For The Good of Illinois also picked up on a key reason for schools to go transparent- Cost Savings. They encourage businesses to take part in this from their presser:
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Congratulations to Adam, David, and COD Board Chairman Michael McKinnon on your victory for taxpayers in DuPage County and all of Illinois.
(Note to Adam: If you can get another school the size of COD online, I’ll consider us even.)
and the have stories up also- go check them out.