who needs libertarians to tell you why the government run public schools dont work when the republic prints stuff like this. replace government schools with private schools and the problem goes away.

http://www.azcentral.com/families/education/articles/0501a-roos0501monday.html

Money, race at root of Roosevelt's troubles

Pat Kossan and Betty Reid The Arizona Republic May. 1, 2006 12:00 AM

For decades, Roosevelt Elementary School District has served as south Phoenix's economic engine.

In a low-income, minority community, it provided scarce and coveted neighborhood jobs to teachers and principals, as well as custodians, cooks, teaching assistants and secretaries.

Over the years, however, its role as provider has led to overspending and patronage, accompanied by sloppy bookkeeping and poor projections of available cash, state and district officials say. Conflicts arose often between Blacks, once a majority in the area, and Latinos, whose numbers are growing.

The tensions persist on the five-member Roosevelt School Board, which controls jobs and contracts. Over the past 17 years, rotating board members have appointed seven superintendents. Principals have come and gone, sometimes midyear.

In the end, the turmoil was often about who gained access to Roosevelt's money, who was hired and fired.

Roosevelt doesn't lack for money. It spent $7,620 per student to operate its schools in the 2004-05 school year, an annual state funding report showed. That is $1,315 more than the Maricopa County district average and $1,064 more than the state average.

It has benefited from federal and state grants, rising property values and a jump in the property taxes it levies.

But the district hasn't been able to buy student achievement. More than half of its 12,939 kids have not mastered grade-level reading and math skills on national and state tests. If its underperforming schools don't improve within two years, they will be taken over by the state.

Over the past few years, the district has used up reserves, lost grant money and lost control of its budget. Its bond rating slipped, and an independent audit of the 2003-04 budget reported weaknesses in internal controls and instances of not complying with laws and regulations.

Norma Muoz, who has served on the board for 10 years, said past administrators were not honest with the board about money or student achievement.

"I'm grateful where we are now," Muoz said. "It's an ugly picture, and it's an ugly story that we now see, and it is the truth."

Puzzling out the money

Ken Garland walked into the district one Monday in December, ready for a little post-retirement consulting.

He had heard that the district didn't have an assistant superintendent and, with 26 years in school finance and a doctorate in educational administration, Garland figured he would help out for a few weeks. Roosevelt hadn't had an assistant superintendent to watch the operating budget for six months.

Four months later, Garland is still there.

He quickly discovered that out of the district's $62.3 million budget, only $15 million remained. It was headed for a deficit of up to $7 million.

Garland started asking questions and found that getting data out of the district was "a nightmare."

"I'm an old math teacher by trade," Garland said. "I kind of get caught up in numbers and leave the emotions out of it."

There has been progress. Garland found money here and there from the federal and state governments. For example, nearly 1,000 kids were getting free lunches, but no one had completed the paperwork to get reimbursed.

Garland also put a hold on substitute pay. The district budgeted $680,000 for substitutes for this year. From July to February, however, it had spent $1.4 million on substitutes. Of that money, $531,000 was spent on substitutes for custodians and secretaries, not teachers. Garland stopped the spending. The School Board later voted to stop such spending next year.

Last week, he was still looking for about $500,000.

Community perks

The Roosevelt board met last month to vote on some of Garland's cost-saving suggestions.

One was a 1,200-square-foot gym built in 1999 inside an empty building for use by schools and the community. Michael Baldwin, 39, makes $55,000 a year running the free fitness center. He calls it his "dream job." He said it once served some students at the Cesar Chavez campus where it sits, but is used only by about 30 employees on weeknights.

"It's a vital resource for the community," Baldwin said. Garland sees it as $60,000 he can cut out of a straining budget.

The board voted to shut down the gym. Chavez Principal David Provost said he