In Dunwoody and throughout DeKalb there has been quite an uproar over the way the DeKalb County School System spends its money[1]. The Other Dunwoody applauds the fact that citizens are engaged, and many are capable users of some powerful technology: the spreadsheet. Using this tool they've gained insight into the compensation and organizational structure of what in reality is the largest (some say most bloated) local government we deal with: the public school system. And they are madder than a wet hen.
The Other Dunwoody would like to present a new challenge to these engaged, intelligent citizens, especially those within Dunwoody:
Demand the same data from your city government and subject it to the same intense, critical scrutiny.That's right, The Other Dunwoody challenges you to stop the pollyannish cheerleading and demand the same kind of transparency, the same kind of information at the same level of detail from your city as you are currently receiving from your county school system! We've voted in a city that has given a job or committee position to nearly every active member of the Dunwoody Homeowners association and they have paid us back with incompetence. Clearly these people, who seem to think three plus two be faux pas, need adult supervision.
It is time for everyone in Dunwoody, but especially the "winnning" 35%, to give them just that. Then we will have better informed citizenry and perhaps even live in a city with capable public servants. And when the inevitable debates about wresting our schools from the county bureaucracy begin we won't have to assume the City of Dunwoody will be better stewards of our[2] educational dollars---we'll know.
TOD
Notes:
- We in The Other Dunwoody won't quibble here about the semantic. After all if the money our Mayor and City Council collect and spend is their money to spend, then we must afford the same courtesy to DCSS, mustn't we?
- The main topic of the second part in the series--just whose dollars are these?
Posts
