More than $4.7 million in federal stimulus aid so far has been funneled to schools in North Chicago, and state and federal officials say that money has saved the jobs of 473 teachers.Look--teachers' jobs are government jobs--which we pay for. This does NOT truly create jobs to grow the economy. Rather, it grows the size of government.
Problem is, the district employs only 290 teachers.
"That other number, I don't know where that came from," said Lauri Hakanen, superintendent of North Chicago Community Unit Schools District 187.
The Obama administration last week released the first round of data designed to underpin the worthiness of its economic stimulus plan, which so far has directed $1.25 billion to Illinois schools. That money has helped save or create 14,330 school jobs in the state, the administration claimed.
But those statistics, compiled initially by the Illinois State Board of Education, appear riddled with anomalies that raise questions about their validity, according to a Tribune analysis of district-by-district stimulus spending and other state data. Many local school officials were perplexed by the stimulus data attributed to their districts.
In the official report, Wilmette Public Schools District 39 was credited with 166 jobs saved by stimulus aid. Superintendent Raymond Lechner said the number should be zero.
Supposedly Chicago Public School jobs "saved or created" were undercounted. Perhaps so. But let me be clear--(as our President Barack Obama likes to say) a significant number of jobs there shouldn't be counted as real by any honest measure. Patronage is rife and union mediocrity rules. And come on, who are you fooling here--school districts routinely pink slip some teachers at the end of the school year and then rehire them for the fall.
In addition, apparently a lot of the stimulus money went to the state to pay existing obligations to school districts. This does not help growth either.
And of course, we get a runaround on the numbers. Gov. Quinn's office dropped the ball, uh, passed off the job:
Confusion reigns over why the numbers for many districts appear so off. Responsibility for collecting data and sending the figures to Washington fell to Quinn's office, which turned the task over to the state board.Unaccountable bureaucrats who can't count (but can line their pockets). SNAFU.
Board spokesman Matt Vanover said the data might be flawed and said the information was only as good as the numbers sent in by local districts. But officials of several districts contacted by the Tribune insisted they never provided the state with the jobs numbers used in the official tabulation.
No wonder people are leaving the state if they can. To repeat:
Over the past decade, while its population grew by only 7%, Illinois' spending grew by an inflation-adjusted 39%. [snip]No wonder voters threw lots of bums out yesterday, around the country--where are the jobs? Where is the growth and opportunity?
Massive public spending increases over the past decade in California, New Jersey, Illinois and New York have gone overwhelmingly into the pockets and pensions of public employees. It certainly has not flowed into such basic infrastructure as roads, bridges and ports that are needed to keep key industries competitive.
Big government at its best is not capable, at its worst is corrupt. Best get out of the way--and stop wasting our hard-earned tax dollars.
More. White House Tally Appears to Overstate Stimulus Jobs. WSJ.
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