Comments by "Javier Flores" (@JJFlores197) on "Why The Education System Is Failing America | CNBC Marathon" video.
-
1
-
1
-
I work in K-12 IT. In my nearly 4.5 years there, I have seen a disgusting amount of waste in just about every category you can think of. Every school district is different, but I'd say the top administrators take up a non-negligible amount in salaries and benefits. And some of these admins don't directly work with students very much or at all or are even in the schools seeing the day-to-day activities of how schools run. Not saying their jobs aren't important, but a lot of them have bloated salaries relative to what they do.
I also see what I believe is a lack of accountability and vetting when it comes to purchasing. A few years ago at one of my schools, I found a printer that was still brand new in box. It was purchased around 2017 but for some reason, it was never put in use. It just sat hidden under a bunch of junk that piled over the years collecting dust. The thing cost at least $500 new. That's just 1 of many egregious examples of financial mismanagement.
My mom works at the school cafeteria. She likes the job but dislikes the disgusting amount of food waste every single day. They don't cook much food in-house as its mostly pre-packaged stuff that they warm up. The official policy is that anything that is left over gets thrown straight into the trash. No one is allowed to take any home or give it to other people. The kids are "forced" to take what's a complete meal which includes a main entree, veggies, fruit, and a milk carton. That is so it counts as a full meal so the district gets reimbursed for it. Lunch ladies are required to tell the kids that they HAVE to take a complete meal. If the kid doesn't want green beans for instance, they're still required to take it but they get old they can throw it in the trash. Its "ok" because at that point, the student already received a "complete" meal. Its absolute insanity. And the people in charge don't care. Its not their money nor is it the district's money. Its all business stuff so the food service dept has special funding from different sources so they don't care at all.
My aunt works in the pre-school system of that same district and its the same issue. Each year, the pre-school (child development program) gets a certain amount of funding. They allocate part of that funding for each pre-school classroom district-wide. Whether or not they need stuff, they have to buy stuff by a certain time. Every year, my aunt and her co-workers have to throw out stuff to make room for new furniture or toys or supplies because they have to use that money. They throw out stuff that's not even a year old and is in otherwise good condition to make room for more junk. Its a never ending cycle.
1