The Illinois government-run school system continues to resist financial transparency. Instead of fully disclosing how it’s spending $20 billion dollars of taxpayers’ money, they cry out for more.
In the private sector there’s something called GAAP accounting practices. GAAP stands for “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.” In the government-run school system in Illinois we see PAAP – “Politically Accepted Accounting Principles.”
We’ve got a simple question: how can anyone not support full disclosure of all government revenues and expenditures. Yet when it comes to the public school spending crisis in Illinois, those who stand to personally profit from increasing taxes resist transparency.
As one observer has stated, it’s time to “solve the lexicography of the dissemblers.” Currently there is no citizen oversight of government-run school spending, and there’s precious little effective school board oversight, either.
There should be a standardized accounting and full disclosure of all district revenues and expenditures (including the district’s check register) on the World Wide Web, including:
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A list of all employees in an organizational chart.
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Every classroom expenditure should be outlined.
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Every contract – including those of administrators, should be posted in its entirety. (It’s clear that many school boards prefer to keep some of the perks and some of the details of the benefit packages away from the public eye, since the scale of their generosity with money earmarked for educating kids would rouse ire on the part of the taxpayers.)
School boards don’t provide these details, and they disclose information only as required. In many districts, even the elected school board members have trouble getting school administrations to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests.
There is no accountability without full disclosure. The K12 financial reporting is so loose that it promotes misinformation and fraud. That is the opinion of financial experts who reviewed reports for districts seeking tax increases.
This isn’t a new concept. Obviously the public has always been involved in making the decision of whether, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “taxes were deficient or superabundant.” As President in 1802 Jefferson said that there should be --
“…a simplification of the form of accounts in the treasury department and in the organization of its officers so as to bring everything to a single centre, we might hope to see the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books, so that every member of Congress and every man of any mind in the union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them.”
Kevin Killion has a terrific page on his website IllinoisLoop.org calling for "candor" on behalf of the public school community:
"Government school districts are public bodies whose inner workings should be visible to all residents, taxpayers and education consumers. Two powerful tools are available for residents who want to learn about their school districts, namely, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meetings Act. The Illinois Loop believes that this is only a start. To be truly operating in full candor, a school district should not be waiting for citizen petitions."
The "candor" page lists "important information [that] should be available up-front, on the district's
website as well as readily available for public inspection on-site..." Click here to view the list.
Another movement is underway to get public school districts to post their check registers online. Peyton Wolcott's website lists the districts which are doing so.
The following information should also be posted on school district websites:
- Recent Years Operating Fund Budgets from Annual Financial Report excluding TRS payment by the State.
- Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports by independent Auditor.
- Management Letters provided by Auditors.
- Review of Accounting Standards used by the School District.
- Short Term Debt and Tax Anticipation Warrants used.
- History of Use and Authorization.
- Lag / Transition Fees Collected.
- Detailed Budget by Generals Ledger Account Number.
- General State Aid Projections and Analysis.
- Explanation of A.F.R. Annual Financial Report.
- Enrollment Statistics from end of September or end of October Enrollment Reports.
- Teacher Compensation as reported by the School District.
- List of all non-union full time employees and their position.
- Organization Chart for all full time employee positions in each school district.
- Analysis of Classroom Learning Expenditures.
- Analysis of Administrative Expenditures.
- All Union Contracts.
- All District Policies related to benefits, compensation and early retirement.
Posted February 22, 2007.
