I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Latest "Chiefs For Change" Fail: Skandera in NM

New levels of reformy incompetence from Jeb! Bush's "Chief For Change" in New Mexico, ACTING Education Secretary Hanna Skandera:
School districts around New Mexico are now being asked to pay back money they received due to an accounting error.
The state Public Education Department acknowledged in May that the funding errors affected about 50 districts. At the time, the department said those that were overpaid would not have to return the money.
Education Secretary Hanna Skandera sent an email Wednesday to the Santa Fe school district and others that said state law required them to refund the money, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported (http://bit.ly/1c8fo0q ).
Under the state's demands, Santa Fe would have to pay $230,000, or close to $20,000 a month over the course of a year.
Superintendent Joel Boyd said the district might propose paying it back over five years.
School district leaders have said the error has caused problems.
"If we can't trust (the department), it makes it very difficult to plan our budget," Boyd said. "And what assurance do we have that this issue will not occur again? The carelessness by which this error was created should bring about significant concern for anyone who cares about our public schools. A careless clerical error has cost millions of dollars across the state to different communities."
Of course, having the blessing of a Bush brother means never having to hold yourself accountable:
Santa Fe school board President Linda Trujillo said Friday, “For us, it’s not that big of a hit. But other districts, like Rio Rancho, are going to get hit. The PED made a mistake. The PED has made mistakes before. … If we make mistakes, they come down pretty hard on us. It’s unfortunate we can’t rely on what they tell us.” [emphasis mine]
Jeb!'s "Chiefs For Change" know how to pass the buck; after all, they learned from the best.

I learned from George that my mistakes are never my fault!

1 comment:

Fourth Generation Teacher said...

http://newsok.com/state-schools-superintendent-janet-barresis-denial-of-moore-schools-funding-request-draws-sharp-criticism/article/3855191

Please write about this issue in OK...our own Chief for Change is denying funds to Moore Public Schools, the district that lost two schools and lost children IN the schools.