Dearest reader,
Well... this little rabbit hole has grown some rather impressive tunnels. 🐇
What began as one woman, an abacus, and an unreasonable curiosity about public school spending has grown into hundreds of posts, districts across Michigan, and a research queue that shows absolutely no sign of developing manners.
So Lady Budgetdown finally needed a proper home for the receipts.
Introducing: The Ledger. https://ladybudgetdown.com
Facebook will remain where Lady Budgetdown posts, discusses findings, and occasionally lowers her spectacles at something particularly deserving.
But The Ledger will become the permanent, organized home for the research, arranged so you can actually find a district, revisit an investigation, and follow the receipts without excavating six months of Facebook posts.
Beginning now, new research will be added to The Ledger as it is published. Older Lady Budgetdown investigations will also be moved into the archive as time allows. There are hundreds of them, dear reader. Even the abacus has requested reasonable working conditions.
And there is another addition.
Readers who want to support Lady Budgetdown now have two ways to do it.
You can become a subscriber, which helps support the ongoing work and comes with access to the behind-the-scenes side of the rabbit holes: early looks and works in progress, what's currently on the Ledger and what's coming, member Q&A and discussion, a resource library, (all of the datasets I have compiled) and the opportunity to vote on future rabbit holes and research priorities.
Or, if subscriptions aren't your thing but you'd still like to toss a few coins toward the abacus, there is also an option to make a one-time contribution.
https://ko-fi.com/ladybudgetdown
Most importantly, neither is required.
The public research is staying public. The receipts are not going behind a paywall. A subscription or contribution does not buy a favorable finding, move a district to the front of the line, or change what the records say.
It simply helps support the work.
Websites, hosting, public records, research tools, document storage, and all the other decidedly unglamorous things behind those pearls cost money. Lady Budgetdown is still one person doing all of it.
So if this work has helped you understand where your public dollars are going, and you're able and willing to help keep the rabbit holes open, I would be tremendously grateful for your support, whether that's through a subscription or a one-time contribution.
And if neither is in the budget? Keep reading. Share the receipts. Invite someone to the page. Ask questions.
That matters, too.
I had absolutely no idea what I was creating when I opened this page.
Apparently, Michigan had plans for me.
The Ledger is just the next rabbit hole. 🐇
With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown
@followers @topfans
#LadyBudgetdown #TheLedger #WithReceiptsAndRespect #MichiganSchools #PublicMoney #PublicRecords #SchoolFinance #Transparency #Accountability