Took the river boat to the heart of Central Florida today after I heard a story about the Orange County School Board cutting $15 million from its transportation budget.
Whoa, I thought. Fifteen million clams, them ain't no small peanuts there. How on earth did you slash $15 million from the budget, are the kids walking to school now?
Not to worry people, the little ones aren't going to be forced to get into shape. As reported in The Orlando Sentinel, the idea was a simple one. The savings is a direct result of swapping the start times of the middle school and high school according to Superintendent Ron Blocker.
This has met with some resistance from parents. Some arguments are valid, like sending middle school students to school in the dark. But other arguments left me scratchin' my head like a dog with fleas. Since high school classes don't end until 4:30, Edgewater High baseball games won't start until after dark and the field doesn;t have lights. Huh? Is the reason our kids are in school so they canplay baseball games in the sunshine?
As I was floating down the river and soaking up some sunshine, I was thinking "now that was a pretty smart move, changing the start times to save all that money." But then it hit me like a Cat 5 hurricane - so that means that last year the school board WASTED $15 million by having middle school start after high school.
These are public officials that work for you, the taxpayer. They are entrusted with the care of your tax dollars to spend wisely and only spend what is needed. They act so high and mighty now, trying to show how they are saving all this money. But if this was all it took, then in the 2007 - 2008 school year they wasted $15 for EVERY person in Orange County.
Hey Orange County, I've got a way for you to save the taxpayers $2 billion a year. Abolish the public school system!
What do you think? Sit back, relax on the deck of the river boat and think it over. Then leave me a comment or two.
Until next time, watch out for the aligators
