The USA Today reported that Detroit conducted an audit of its public school system and the results were not encouraging. The audit revealed that the district is wasting large amounts of money on things that are no longer in use or not eligible for the money. We believe that teachers and schools know best how to spend money that affects student outcomes and they should be empowered with more spending decisions.
The article states that in Detroit, $2.1 million a year in healthcare being spent on over 400 dependents that are no longer eligible to earn the money. Also among the money being wasted are 11 motorcycles, 160 unused BlackBerry phones, 97 two-way phones, and dozens of metal detectors and wands. These products should not be going to waste. These products could easily be useful for educators across the Teacher Community.
Due to this wasted money, the district is thinking of filing for federal bankruptcy protection. Also, the Detroit district has overspent its budget the past seven years while enrollment has declined steadily without the corresponding staff cuts or school closings. Clearly the bureaucrats are not the best decision makers when it comes to funneling money to the schools.
Applebatch created an essay contest to prove that our Teacher Network deserves more spending authority. Through our website, http://applebatch.com, Applebatch provides teachers with a free service to connect, collaborate and share.
In addition, we believe that teachers can leverage professional networks and relationships online to help them find new teaching jobs if/when Detroit and other school districts begin to lay-off teachers.
There are many ways that we can help. But the first step is to recognize the problem with the process and only then can we have an open discussion how to revolutionize the legacy systems which do a disservice to our kids.
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