Sunday, May 10, 2009

Liar, Liar, Pants on fire..........

The famous journalist I. F. Stone once stated “All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.” This statement is true in regards to Danville Public Schools. The problem for the public is separating the lies from the total lies. In the last few weeks it has become obvious that the Concrete Castle liars are tripping over their own lies.

Nothing has become more ridiculous then the current debate over the GW athletic director position. The position is needed due to the large, complicated, and detail oriented nature of GW sports. It is not a “part time” job like a pizza delivery boy. It is a position that takes a huge amount of coordination among district officials, coaches, referees, and school administrators. To suddenly decide that this position is no longer needed indicates the central office’s utter lack of experience in high school management. Rather then ask the ones who know they gather in their concrete cave and issue edicts without knowledge, input, or common sense in regards to the people they are effecting. But is this any different then anything else they have done?

What is even more amazing is the lack of response from school board members who continue to rubber stamp the asinine decisions vomiting from the concrete palace. Even members of the city council, a group slow to react to anything, have sat up straight in their chairs to look at this issue. Maybe now they will stop writing the school board blank checks and stop hiding behind their perceived idea that they have nothing to do with the school board.

The council was right on the mark concerning the presentation of the budget. It was ill prepared, lacked detail, and generally was an attempt to hide the real money uses. Up to about four years ago the budget was presented in a detailed form to the council months before it came up to vote. Over the last years, despite the superintendent’s statements (lies), the staff has been kept in the dark about the budget details. The first budget draft was a SINGLE page. Any school administrator in the business department who presents a one page budget ought to be terminated for gross incompetence. To reduce a $20 million budget to a single page or to the poor budget report given to council does a disservice to the city and the taxpayers.

Wake up council members, as Tennessee Williams once stated, “The only thing worse then a liar is a liar who is also a hypocrite.”