It was interesting to listen to Mr. Pellegrino this morning on WIBX' "First Look." Listen to him and you would think that the management of the school district is entirely different. . . . that they are not going to put up with any nonsense any more from contractors . . . and that they are going to be tough and press for criminal charges with the DA for the malfeasance on the roofs that are now leaking. The $8 million bond for repairs was not properly managed - - but the Board is going to insist that things be made right . . . Bravo.
I don't know about you, but I am not convinced that management people, styles or attitudes are significantly different from what Uticans have put up with for years.
What IS significantly different now is that a bonanza is about to be literally dropped into their collective lap -- some $300 million in state funds -- more money in one shot than the school district has ever received - - - AND THEY DON'T WANT TO LOSE IT.
While Mr. Pellegrino might have sounded tough, I heard posturing and desperation. He so wants to convince you that the Utica City School District has changed . . . that it can now be trusted with your tax dollars. . . . SO YOU WILL APPROVE THEIR SPENDING PLAN . . . And to prove it they make the show of toughness on the leaking roofs.
But what about the $37 million Millenium fiasco? From the stories emanating out of Proctor, people are suspicious that perhaps that money might not have been well spent either. That project never quite seemed to work as intended, with personnel seemingly shuffled more than a deck of cards in a poker game. Remember the scheduling nightmare? And did Proctor ever find its text books?
And how about that Krazy Kernan Skewl with its Kollege Daze? and Yoga Klasses? and seminars on Kommunity service . . . and Health Klinics. Anything but Reading 'Riting and 'Rithmatic!
The Utica public has put up with years and years of watching its school district's incompetence, nonsense, and waste. UCSD knows it. So now UCSD fears that the voters may reject the $300 million even though it will be entirely state funds.
After wasting millions already given, why give these people more? They will probably bite off more than they can chew, saddling the taxpayers with unneeded facilities to maintain. The kids will see no results anyway.
Payback would be soooo sweet.
6 comments:
Pelligrino is just another example of what's wrong with that school district. They are all entrenched and they make a good noise but when it comes down to shoving it up the people's noses they are all in it together. That school board has inbred itself for so long we don't even notice. They run their own candidates, get the same thousand people to vote for them and it's just a matter of which faction is in charge of doing a terrible job and answering to nobody. You never hear a word from them unless it's in their own best interest.
THREE HUNDRED MILLION?!?!?!?!?!
What happened to our Medicaid crisis, high sales taxes, and hig property taxes? I know politicians will say the funds are "unrelated" but if the state can cough up that much money for a scholl district, how about contributing to its mandated Medicaid program?
Three hundred million.... *disbelief*
The logical inconsistencies of our government are breathtaking, are they not, Mrs. M.?
To me, it doesn't matter where the money comes from, or if it is designated as "unrelated". Same pants, different pocket.
So far as throwing money at the UCSD's problem's, I fear nothing will change. If something isn't working, doing more of the same won't fix it. When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you should do is stop digging.
Look what recently happened at the Clinton School District, especially noting that they built a new auditorium and the community cannot afford to keep it operational.
School teachers and administrators had better heed the warning...THEIR jobs are on the line and they will be REMOVED!
It should be interesting to see New Hartford School District and how these "fat" cats spend taxpayer dollars.
Teachers and Administrators and especially those who do not even live within the school district...feed voraciously from the public trough.
I wonder who the real swines are?
Got this quote in my email:
"It is time to admit that public education operates like a planned
economy. It's a bureaucratic system where everybody's role is spelled
out in advance, and there are few incentives for innovation and
productivity. It's not a surprise when a school system doesn't improve. It more resembles a Communist economy than our own market economy."
-- Albert Shanker
(1928-1997) former president of the American Federation of Teachers
LOL
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