© 2018 Jim Spence - Our subscription to the Las Cruces Sun-News was dropped
years ago. Occasionally, I’ll take a look at the paper online. Like so many
news outlets, long ago the Sun-News became such a propaganda piece for identity
politics, junk science, and anti-business sentiments. Accordingly, it has hardly been worth
subsidizing, even with a tiny online subscription. Who knows, we might re-think that based on this story.
Low and behold, this weekend the Sun-News suddenly embarked
on an investigative mission. While I am somewhat skeptical about the narrowness of the underlying
reasons why, it is a breath of fresh air to see that the Sun-News has actually decided
that the resource allocation policies at the massively bloated bureaucracy at
the Las Cruces Public Schools deserves scrutiny.
Insect observers tell us that cockroaches tend to scurry for
the shadows when the lights suddenly come on in a room where these occupants
prefer darkness. This is a metaphor for what Sun-News reporter Ali Linan has
been doing by asking questions about the ever-expanding roster of highly
compensated bureaucrats at LCPS. It would seem that former LCPS superintendent Stan
Rounds’ replacement Greg Ewing has now had sixteen months to demonstrate his
priorities, and Linan has done some homework to expose them.
Far be it from the LCPS school board or the central planners to remember that resources
(monies) are allocated to the district out of the pockets of taxpayers to help
children acquire essential skills. The focal point of LCPS should be children,
and by proxy, their classroom teachers who interact with them on a daily basis. Sadly, kids and teachers get nothing but lip service from those who control the money at the LCPS central office.
Those of us who have been around the block a few times
understand that schools are managed best when teacher and student-oriented school
principals are given the broadest authority to allocate resources at each school. The
LCPS school board is oblivious to the fact that a large and ever-growing constituency of central planning bureaucrats downtown is the polar opposite of a good structure where schools are run for best
results.
Sadly, Linan and the Sun-News are barely scratching the
surface of the problem at LCPS. A ten minute review of the organizational chart
at LCPS and the list of “promotions” handed out by Mr. Ewing are all one needs to
see the problem. You can pull up the organizational chart of the central office
of LCPS HERE.
Essentially, this chart is a graphic description of what
happens when the insatiable appetite for resources by bureaucracies are not curbed. The LCPS
central office has morphed like a vacant lot with no weed control for decades. The weeds
have now grown taller than the tops of our heads. There are tens of millions of dollars being wasted by this "organization."
While we should all plan to follow the Sun-News investigation into LCPS, and especially the stalling tactics now being employed by the bloated monster, nobody should expect the school board to make sweeping reforms no matter how much light is
shed on this incredible situation. There is simply not a single reformer on this board.
In the meantime, we can expect to see a continuation of the
exodus of talented teachers from LCPS. For sure there are still many talented
teachers remaining at LCPS. Unfortunately, to remain, these valuable people must also be willing
to accept the fact that their masters at the central office will serve themselves,
their cronies, and their whims first. And when resources are particularly scarce thanks to shameless waste, these bureaucrats will surely demand that taxpayers pony up more cash to the LCPS system........for the sake of the “children.”
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