The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

First, the news…

Schools lose lawsuit, fear money crisis

U.S. won’t fully fund No Child act

A federal judge in Detroit dealt school districts and teachers unions a setback Wednesday in their battle to force the federal government to pay for programs Congress required by the No Child Left Behind Act.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled that, had Congress intended to fully fund the programs it required, it would have said so in the legislation. The law took effect in 2002.

The superintendent for Pontiac schools, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the decision deepens the district’s financial problems.

The district has made yearly progress to comply with the law, Superintendent Mildred Mason said, but “we have burned up all of our resources and reserves. We’ll have to borrow money because our cash flow is not sufficient.” (more…)

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Like many other inner-city school districts, the Detroit school system has a history of financial improprieties and just plain bad management. Below are just some of the stories these teacher unions will not talk about in public:

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“Five years ago, Detroit Public Schools had about $100 million in savings.” (2004–here’s more of the article)

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Bad bookkeeping: Missing and misspent school money

Burnley elevated 4 tied to lost cash

DETROIT — The four Detroit high school principals promoted to high-paying administrative jobs last summer ran buildings where more than $130,000 in school money was unaccounted for or misspent, internal audits revealed. 11/21/00

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Prosecutor reviewing schools’ finance data for fraud activity

DETROIT — Financial records documenting more than $150,000 of missing or misspent money from eight Detroit schools are being reviewed by the Wayne County prosecutor’s office for possible criminal activity. 11/21/00

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Detroit school funds misused

DETROIT — Top officials at Detroit high schools lost or misspent at least $630,000 in recent years, according to confidential audits obtained by The Detroit News. 11/20/00

Although links are no longer directly assessable

, just follow this link and you may be able to purchase access to the archives.

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DETROIT, Mich. — Internal audits of Detroit Public Schools’ finances show that administrators at 28 high schools have misspent or lost track of nearly $140,000 in the last few years. While much of the problem was found to be bad bookkeeping, auditors said funds have also been used to pay for principals’ cell phones, travel expenses, and even flowers and traffic tickets.

Audits of the district’s records began in 1999 due to a state-mandated reform program. “We saw recordkeeping that needs to be improved,” April Royster, Detroit Schools’ chief of internal audit, told the Detroit News. “It’s mainly an issue of re-communicating policies and re-enforcing them. It’s a management issue.”

Some schools have improved how they spend cash and are keeping better records, and district administrators have promised to train staff on proper bookkeeping techniques. Sixteen high schools have yet to be audited. –December 9, 2003 (souce)

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Fall 2002 Issue Posted: Nov. 17, 2002

Financial scandals exposed in Michigan school districts

Teachers, student programs suffer as district officials bilk millions from schools

Recent investigations have revealed a rash of irregularities in public school financial audits, particularly in the Metro Detroit area. Many of the districts involved in financial scandals are cutting student programs, initiating staff layoffs, and increasing taxes.

“Maybe if the district watched its money a little closer, the children would have all the books they need,” Gladys Sabbath, a grandmother of River Rouge School District students, told The Detroit News in regard to a recently-exposed incident.

The recent scandals demonstrate that the current system of financial accountability is leaving much room for abuse. State law requires school districts to operate with balanced budgets and hire outside parties to conduct annual audits. Districts facing deficits must submit a debt-reduction plan to the state, or risk being placed on a “watch list” for financially troubled schools. (Trust me, this article gets worse…)

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Had enough? The taxpayers and most importantly the kids sure have had their fill of this crap.

It isn’t more money that is needed. Teacher unions need to stop looking after their own interests at the expense of the taxpayer and cut away members that rape school budgets instead of protecting them.