Commissioner Bernie Ash wrote a letter to The Wilson Post, which was published under the title of “Commissioner sets record straight on schools budget”. Unfortunately The Wilson Post did not publish the letter online so we could link to it, so we will have to provide you some quotes out of it.
“I have seen an email sent to teachers stating that if they want workbooks or textbooks they should call their county commissioner and ask for a 34-cent tax hike for the schools.” – Ash
Another instance of the School Board using time and resources to politically force the County Commission to pass their budget. This is not the School Board’s role, they are not a Political Action Committee and the server space and bandwidth they used for political reasons is unethical. All should be censured, Hall and Davis should be reprimanded.
“One letter stated that we have added 2,800 students in the past seven years with no increase in funding from the county. She is right, there has not been an increase in the tax rate, but let’s look at some real numbers. In 2001 the school budget was $57,949,789, and the portion that came from the property tax was $12,929, 189. In 2008 the school budget was $114,822,951. The portion that came from the property tax was $23,271,294. That is almost 100 percent in new, real dollars during the past seven years.”
What a great comeback. Davis and Hall have been lying to the public, to the teachers, to the County Commission, and to the media. What is disturbing is that the teachers believe the lies without checking the numbers for themselves.
2,800 new students is not a 100% increase in students, more like a 25% increase, and yet the school board’s overall budget and portion of the budget from property taxes increased by nearly 100%. In fact, Ash points out that the growth money equates to $12,385 per new student.
“When Mr. Mike Davis, Wilson County Schools director, was asked by a commissioner what the schools have done to save costs, he replied that they have cancelled some magazine subscriptions and eliminated some travel. That’s pretty weak.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Ash called him out. Davis is a fool. Canceling magazines and some travel???? What a paper tiger of a leader. “Weak” leader Davis. I bet as of the day Davis was asked that he had not eliminated all the boondoggle trips he has permission to go on.
Ash is correct, time to stop scaring teachers. Mr. Ash, great letter. Now, ask yourself this question: Why have none of the personnel cuts proposed by the Home Office been of personnel in the Home Office? Cutting a bloated administrative staff at Stumpy Lane will be less impactful on the students than cuts in the classrooms. Davis and Hall are protecting their staffs and throwing the school staffs to the wolves. It’s politics.
It’s also time for teachers to learn to think for themselves and not blindly follow Davis and Hall’s pathetic leadership in terms of budgeting. How can we expect them to teach our children to think for themselves when they do not know how to think for themselves?
We are watching, and reading.
