One of the most depressing things I write about in Stealing You Blind is what is happening to public education, which has become just another source of plunder for the public-sector elite. My nieces have been affected by the Atlanta scandal, so I take this personally. Then Lynn Woolley in Texas told me this morning about this story, which is all too typical.
Lake Travis ISD’s Rocky Kirk, who was paid $351-thousand dollars to oversee a district of under seven thousand students, has resigned. He walks away with a small fortune. But it get worse.
Lake Travis has hired Mike Moses to find a replacement. Moses is the retired superintendent of the Dallas District, where he made $340-thousand dollars — highest in the nation. Under Moses’ watch, the Dallas ISD was embroiled in scandal that included fishy vendor contracts and misspent bilingual education dollars. Three of Moses assistants were indicted and two were sentenced to federal prison.
Moses somehow escaped from the investigation unscathed. He now receives $224-thousand per year, directly from taxpayers. Local taxpayers should be in open revolt.
Local school boards appear to have ridiculously cozy arrangements with the class of people they hire to run them. It’s about time people started paying attention to what’s going on with them at their local level. If you have a tale like this, let me know.