There have been quite a few articles in the newspaper lately which discuss urban school districts. One in particular spoke about an ex-Irvington school official who is accused of bribery. The article states that “The state attorney general yesterday accused former Irvington mayor Michael Steele of accepting at least $120,000 to rig contracts in his job as business administrator for the township’s Board of Education.” The article goes on to mention that Steele took bribes in cash from a Lakewood-based contractor. “The contractor got a total of 29 contracts worth more than $400,000 and inflated the prices it charged the school district to cover the kickbacks for Steel, prosecutors allege.” Lastly, the article ends by saying that in 2006, a previous comptroller stole more than $91,000 from the school district’s cafeteria account.
I wonder if there is any kind of correlation between corruption and poor student performance. Does anyone know of any articles that deal with this issue? It is interesting that an administration can expect the student body to work hard, get an honest education, and create a life for themselves when the example some people are setting is to use the system for personal gain by stealing. The administration is sending the students mixed signals. It is necessary for the administration to take a look at their actions and remember that they are setting an example for the students. Just like teachers, the administrators need to be good moral stewards. Administrators and teachers alike must, at all times, have the best interest of the students at heart. If there is a great deal of lying, deceit, and corruption, the students will never be in an environment where they can trust.
Think of how much good the money that was stolen could have done for the student population. It may not seem like an inordinate amount of money, but if you are talking about schools with poor conditions such as leaky roofs, mold, mildew, non-functioning bathrooms, no heat/air-conditioning, not enough books for students or not enough materials for teachers, it could mean a great deal to the students’ educational experience. For anyone who has not seen it, take a look at Christine’s blog and look at the Washington D.C. school district video, then, imagine how this stolen money could have benefited the students.
5 comments:
Here’s a few other articles about how funds in poorer districts, including those designated Abbott districts are being spent. Like we said in class, corruption goes on everywhere, but when you have districts who are already being scrutinized by the state, news, and people because of their Abbott status, or because they are big cities with big stories, or because they have a history of corruption, no one is helping the cause by proving the pundits right. Particular cities, and the men and women involved in the politics of those places, have bad reputations as is, why provide more fuel for the fire, especially when schools funds may be at stake? You would think they know better??
Star-Ledger articles
Big perks for top school administrators in some poor school districts:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/topstories/index.ssf/2008/06/big_perks_in_some_poor_school.html
Branding Elizabeth resistant, state demands school records:
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1212208567221180.xml&coll=1
I totally agree with you, the good the money can do for these kids is endless. But we have to think that this situation is not just in the urban district, it also happens in the suburban. As always, the urban makes the headlines, but the suburban might have more money to cover the embarrassment. Going back to the real estate market, if a suburban district has such an event they might loss residents because of a corrupt school district.
I totally agree, if I seemed to suggest that this was something that only happens in urban districts, I didn't mean to. Corruption exists in every community, it just happens (as was mentioned) that this was what was in the paper.
I kind of recall talking about similar political corruption in the Asbury school district. I think it may have been in Enix's 'Social Dynamics' class... I could be completely misled, but I think it was Asbury. Anyhow, it just blows my mind that people would take advantage of students who actually need the money the most. It is the anti-Robbin Hood ethos- rob from the poor and keep for the rich. I really hope we never have to deal with any of these savages. SAVAGES I SAY!
I think immediately of the statistics we hear about the cost of stealth bombers and how it could feed so many people, or the cost of pet supplies in the U.S. feeding all the hungry. I also think, we thats a nice thought, except in a lotta these countries it is hard to physically get the food to the people. That is, if we were to allocate funds to a particular government, the people would never see the money. It reminds me of the barrels for food program that the UN set up. Look it up, it is really a dissappointment. My point is that we can throw half the US GDP at education but it doesnt matter when we have greedy, corrupt administrators pulling stunts like these.
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