Your Tax Dollars at Work

Each school year begins with what they call "Welcome Back Inservice Days". These are two days supposedly dedicated to meet and greets, pastries and coffee,
workshops and facilitating. But the reality is they are dedicated to teachers grumbling about how much work they have to do, administrators and facilitators apologizing for how boring and useless the workshops will be and the requisite giving of gifts to just about everyone involved.

So while I was sitting in the vast, dark auditorium at the high school watching the endless parade of teachers, educational technicians, bus drivers and cafeteria workers being given carnations, tote bags and gift certificates, I began to wonder just how much all this glad handing costs the average Westbrook taxpayer.

I called central office and was transferred to three different people who each told me they didn't know how much it all cost or where I could find the figures in the district's budget. No surprise there.

So I dug out my old slate and commenced cipherin'. Using the lowest numbers possible based on the available facts, this is what I figured...

500 attendees X $12/hr for 16 hours..$96,000
176 Carnations.......................$   176
Tote Bags............................$   750
Gift Certificates....................$   800
Barbeque.............................$ 1,500
Facilitators.........................$ 2,500
Printing costs ......................$ 1,000
Pastries and coffee at 7 schools.....$   400
                                     _______
Estimated total for the two days    $103,126

I believe that the whole thing cost a lot more than that but I can't prove it and neither can the Westbrook taxpayer. That's the problem.