NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC.
"The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt
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NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. "The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt |
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June 7, 2004
WHO’S WATCHING SCHOOL SPENDING?
By Pat Hoey
Given the deepening financial scandal in the Roslyn School District involving the embezzlement of possibly millions of dollars (Newsday, May 27, 2004) by the former Assistant Superintendent for Business, the recent revelations that a former Superintendent of the Three Village School District charged thousands of dollars in personal expenses on a district credit card, and the innumerable instances of misspending, trip taking and patronage by board members in Hempstead, Roosevelt and elsewhere, isn’t it about time that a responsible government agency stepped in and performed comprehensive audits of every one of Long Island’s school districts?
Someone like NY State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, who has uncovered boardroom corruption on Wall Street, needs to monitor the executive sessions of school boards. The appropriate authority ought to police school budgets on a periodic basis and hold school administrators accountable for the improprieties that these scandals suggest are present in rich, middle-class and poor districts alike.
The multi-billion dollar public school establishment on Long Island advocates passage of their budgets based on the claim that our children deserve the best education possible. Unfortunately, to some in positions of responsibility the school budget isn’t about children at all. Money destined for education should not wind up being wasted on greedy administrators and selfish benefits by inept or corrupt school board members.
The writer is the communications Director of the Central Bellmore Homeowners Association and is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science & American History at Nassau Community College.