The Biggest Con Job Since The Sting

WARNING: Off-topic Rant from World-Class Ranter Below.

This week, the yearly “Con job” is taking place once again in Chapel Hill, NC. It is where the school board and the local “Bored” of Education tells us that if the county doesn’t kick in with the money they need for the next fiscal year and the citizens don’t agree to another tax hike, they’re going to have to cut back on such things as teachers, teachers aides, certain extra-curricular programs and of course some varsity and JV sports.

Where does the “Con job” come in to play you ask? Aren’t the people willing to pay more to ensure their children get a good education?

Well let me tell you where the “Big Con” is exactly. Not once in the ten years that I’ve been living here have I ever heard the Superintendent or any other pointy-headed donkey from the school board ever say: “If we don’t get the money we requested for this upcoming year, we’re going to have to lay off people at Lincoln Center (This is the central administration office for the entire Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system). And you know why they never say that? Two reasons:

• Most every taxpayer in town would say, “Who cares! Go ahead and do it.” Of course, most people will panic and say, “Oh please don’t get rid of teachers, or sports programs. I’ll be more than willing to pay more taxes to save that.” But nobody in their right mind would willingly pour more money into the never-ending black hole that is public education in order to save another bureaucrat.
• School boards and Boards of Education treat these central offices as fiefdoms, power bases and their own businesses (of course, with some other sucker, the taxpayer, footing the bill for all the overhead). Do you really think they want to bring any attention to this? Does anyone have any idea how many people work in these places? And, if they lined everyone up, had them count off in 3′s, then got rid of everyone who was a number 3, would anyone ever notice a difference?

In 1993, when Rudy Giuliani first became Mayor of New York City (I lived in Manhattan until 1999), the city was an economic basket-case and a social cesspool. The first thing he did was lower taxes and slash the bloated budget. How bloated you ask? When he got to the central “Bored” of Education he found 3,000 people on the payroll that nobody knew existed! Not 3,000 people working there; this was 3,000 ADDITIONAL people that no one could account for, but were on the payroll nonetheless.

Now in all fairness, the Chapel Hill School system is nothing like N.Y.C., but when a central bureaucracy is allowed to grow unchecked, with no one even questioning it; when programs and people vital to the system are constantly threatened with the axe, while useless bureaucrats keep picking up paychecks, it’s time to make some changes: especially at the top!