Drudge is running a headline linking to this article about a Detroit elementary school seeking donations of light bulbs and toilet paper to “keep their school functioning”.
In the letter (to staff, parents, and partners), Principal Naomi Khalil cited budget constraints within the district as the reason why the school could no longer stock the items.
The district is grappling with a more than $400 million budget deficit and is on the verge of being assigned an emergency financial manager by the state.
The letter asks for toilet paper, paper towel rolls, trash bags and 60, 100 or 150-watt light bulbs.
I dug around a bit and found DPS’s 2008-09 budget.
- On page 19, you find that the projected number of students is 98,356 (a continued decline).
- On page 31, you find that the projected revenue and expenses are over $1.1B.
- Doing the math, that means they are taking in and spending well over $11K per student.
So they are getting around $11,250 per student and begging parents to give them basic supplies because they’re broke. Doesn’t that just tug at your heartstrings?
P.S. No mention why they are looking for regular light bulbs instead of CFLs. Hmmm.
Steve Maley
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Time for a bake sale. nt
Steve Maley (Diary) Thursday, January 8th at 8:38AM EST (link)The blogger formerly known as ‘Vladimir’.
When city tax revenues get used to pay for stuff like
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Thursday, January 8th at 8:54AM EST (link)the $8 million hush-money settlement to protect Kwame Kilpatrick (even the winning lawyer admitted he wasn’t that good), what do you expect? In a culture of Democratic corruption <cough>Blago</cough><cough>Gov Richardson</cough><cough>Chris Dodd</cough><cough>Countrywide</cough><cough>Barney Fran</cough><cough>Fannie Mae</cough><cough>Freddie Mac</cough><cough>Tony Resko</cough><cough>William Ayers</cough>, the money siphoned has to come from somewhere.
bk,
mailloux (Diary) Thursday, January 8th at 9:27AM EST (link)Our home school budget is much more efficient . . . and balanced.
I’m glad you posted this story. “Money well spent?” is a question that should be put to the schools over and over and over. Bailing out the financial industry and the auto industry legitimately raised an eyebrow of concern among many citizens. It’s too bad that folks don’t make the same connection to failing public schools. The government has been bailing them out for decades.
Take Care, mailloux