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ND political party against school transparency
Gee, who would have thunk it?
The folks at the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party blog are upset that a state-based blogger has come back into the public eye, and is on the forefront of the effort to suggest that maybe, just maybe, ND school boards should have to publish a database of their financial records. Brett Norlach--the offending blogger and executive director of the North Dakota Policy Council--has authored a report detailing a new program called Sunshine on Schools. It reads:
"...[T]he North Dakota Policy Council has put together a string of ideas to help make [examining school budgets and spending] more open, called Sunshine on Schools. Because understanding how schools are spending money is essential to understanding how much money they actually need, more people need to gain that understanding."
Brett and his group go on to suggest that ND schools use the Web to make their information more accessible to the general public:
"Schools should be required to set up a website that has detailed budget information. Not only should school have to clearly state point out where they are getting their money from and how much, but they should also have to include very detailed things such as how much money they spent on popcorn kernels that are sold at basketball games."
I recommend reading the entire report and finding out why state Democrats--or at least their bloggers--are so averse to the idea. Make a comment or two on their blog.
(By the way: It's not just the Dems who are against these types of programs. Many state GOP organizations are just as opposed to sunshine, and I won't hesitate to point them out either.)
