A grassroots movement to have public schools post their check registers online is spreading like a Texas wildfire, which is appropriate since the Lone Star state is where the idea originated less than two years ago. Some 200 school districts in 14 states now post $47 billion of expenditures online, including Miami – the fourth largest school system in the nation. Such an extraordinary degree of financial transparency is unheard of in the vast majority of public school districts across the country. That should change.
Peyton Wolcott was frustrated that her local school superintendent was paying for valet parking while parents like her struggled to raise money to outfit the school choir. So the a Horseshoe Bay, TX, mother of two, asked to see the school’s financial records. After an unpleasant 45-minute detention by armed security guards, Wolcott told The Examiner, she was inspired her to set up www.peytonwolcott.com). Her web site is designed to expose the billions of dollars spent by what Wolcott calls “Education, Inc.” but that never make it tothe classroom. Largely due to Wolcott’s efforts, two-thirds of all Texas public school districts now provide spending registers online.
Taxpayers in most states are legally entitled to financial records under freedom of information laws, which often require school administrators to provide the data upon request. But it would take a lot less effort and cost almost nothing simply to post online a PDF of the district’s monthly check register, as is done in Texas. It’s much easier for citizens to track school expenditures when this information is readily available 24/7.
The College of DuPage, a community college in Illinois, took the concept one step further and now also posts a monthly treasurer’s report including the total amount of cash on hand, and all receipts and disbursements in addition to investment and debt information. Checks written in June ranged from a $1.1 million bond payment to $21,574 for advertising in three local newspapers, all of which are named. That’s transparency.
As Adam Andrzejewski of forthegoodofillinois.org points out, many local jurisdictions already provide a fully transparent and easily searchable database of all private property – including the owner’s name, address, square footage and purchase price. Since real estate taxes pay for most of the public education in America, it’s only fair that homeowners be given equal access to information detailing exactly how their hard-earned money is being spent. Activists groups like Americans for Tax Reform’s Center for Fiscal Accountability are working hard to make sure taxpayers get that access.
