Our Gangrene Government
Posted by conservprof in Fort Wayne, Health & Education, PoliticsHow did it get this bad? 
Festering disease catches up with you. Whether it be in a relationship, your own health, or budget deficits–if you don’t pay attention to the problem you end up with gangrene.
Governmental waste and the habit of ignoring problems have become too typical of governmental leadership by unqualified, hyped-politicians who were elected because of momentum and not because of substance. We are now seeing the effects of allowing overspending to maturate.
In today’s New York Times article , discussing the Kansas City School system’s decision to close over 2 dozen schools, they cite the growing problem of ignoring the money issue in government:
The sudden move suggests a depth of dysfunction here that is rarely associated with Kansas City, a lively heartland town with a reputation for order. But a closer look at the school board’s recent history reveals a chaotic, almost nonfunctioning body that put off making tough choices and even routine improvements for generations. Experts said that in the board’s years of inaction is a cautionary tale for school districts everywhere.
Where is government oversight? With the people. It should have been. It should be.
“This is extraordinary,” said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, a research group in Washington. “The school board was dysfunctional for years. There was very poor governance for a long period of time, and it was like a revolving door with superintendents.”
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, just a couple of schools face this dilemma. Elmhurst High School in Fort Wayne facing closure due to budgetary constraints on the district. With all of it’s failings, at least the Fort Wayne Community Schools is addressing a problem before more than a couple have to be dismantled.
Detroit’s blight can be blamed on the same disease…Gangrene Government.
How do you fix gangrene?
Urgent evaluation and treatment. In general, dead tissue should be removed to allow healing of the surrounding living tissue and prevent further infection. Depending on the area that has the gangrene, the person’s overall condition, and the cause of the gangrene, treatment may include:
- Amputating the body part that has gangrene (get rid of the board responsible for overspending)
- An emergency operation to find and remove dead tissue (budget cuts)
- An operation to improve blood supply to the area (new plan of action)
- Repeated operations to remove dead tissue (debridement) (don’t let go of the problem)
- Treatment in the intensive care unit (for severely ill patients) (prosecute)
This is one disease Indiana State Government is not in danger of having, so long as they stay fiscally conservative and continue with attention to details of the budget constraints. The Democrats in Washington should pay attention to our scenario instead of coming up with more massive gangrene spending.
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Closing Elmhurst is like cutting off a finger on the right hand when its the left hand thats infected. Elmhurst is the school with the best scores in the district. There is enough fat in FWCS that should be trimmed before you close down your model academic school.
I don't disagree there is a lot of good happening at Elmhurst. Or other schools. I only applaud the idea of not ignoring the fiscal problem, finally, and realizing the taxpayer is not an unending source of income for their whims. Unfortunately it appears to have happened at Elmhurst's expense.
My point was two-fold. First the education side.
The second, the lavish spending practices elsewhere in the district will go on unchanged. Closing Elmhurst doesn't fix the problem. It only pushes it down the road while making education in the system worse at the same time.
Excellent post & analysis ConservProf! It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better for all of us…The gravy train is about over for the schools and also for all the current entitlements. It's finally starting to hit home with people that we really are broke and somethings gotta give!
CP:
Interesting analogy with gangrene…usually when one develops it in say a toe or two, they will most likely amputate the entire FOOT.
Like pruning back a shrub or tree.
It's not trimming fat, but excising a rapidly speading disease.
Very good post.
Oh, we all beat up on government because it is so open and accessible. If the media were to cover as aggressively business we would be flooded with stories about excess, cheating, fiscal irresponsibility, etc. There are two reasons this does not happen: few journalists are trained in economics and finance, and, secondly, the media will not bite the hand that feeds it…that is advertising. Most people in government do their 8 to 5 like the rest of us, but the leadership are driven primarily, not always, to win re-election, so they are not likely to do what is ultimately best for the community, but rather they will spend to win votes. On our council I think we have more members who are willing to do what they believe is best for the community. Every now and then I wonder, but most of our reps, I believe, see themselves as stewards of our community's resources.
Marco, name one bit of "lavish spending" and I will look into it for you and try to put together a short report.
Jim,
I don't know if you consider it extravagant or not but I would suggest FWCS does not need a $200,000 attorney nor a full time PR dept or even person (all they do is spread misinfo),nor about 30% of the administrators. Other ideas would be to privatize the custodial function,food preparation,scrap the expensive and ineffective busing program which has destoyed the neighborhood school concept and done nothing to improve academic performance. I have beat my head against the FWCS brick wall for too long. The so-called balanced scorecard that would improve things has only proven that the system failed to meet it's goals with no corrective actions taken(they did give Wendy a 5 year no-cut contract at ~200,000 per. This system is a disgrace but the voters won't take the interest to change it!!
Elmhurst has the best test scores south of Colisuem Boulevard, not the best in the system. Snyder and Northrup had somewhat better scores. Elmhurst's scores also dropped from about 60% passing ISTEP to 50% passing in the last two years. SSHS and NSHS are about 45%. Wayne, at 35% passing, is a disaster, which must be why their curent principal is going over to straighten out South Side. But if I were a parent with a child at Elmhurst I would behighly upset at the prospect of sending him/her to any of the three choices on this side of town.
Unless Canterbury is an option.
I will be the first, Lockwood, to agree with you about the bus system. Neighborhood schools, in the wired age, need not beg for resources, but rather be a center for cohesion in each neighborhood. I do not know what the PR staff does, so I can not comment. As for outsourcing janitorial and such, perhaps that would be to the advantage of the system. I do remember a plumber I once hired who came to my job in a FWCS truck and told me he used FWCS supplies on his moonlighting jobs. I cut the job short and have not hired him since.