Dearest reader,

Apparently it is time for a small housekeeping announcement from behind the ledger.

I am one person.

I cover more than 500 public school districts in Michigan. I cannot research every possible explanation, historical event, staffing decision, funding change, comparable district, contract, board discussion and piece of context surrounding every number I publish.
Nor am I trying to.

My job here is much simpler: I find the receipts. I put information that is often scattered across hundreds of pages of budgets, audits, payroll reports, meeting minutes and state databases into a form ordinary people can actually see and understand. Then I ask questions.

"But it's already public information."

Yes. That is quite literally the point.

Most parents and taxpayers do not have hours to spend digging through government databases and 200-page PDFs looking for it. I apparently do.

"But you didn't provide all the context."

Sometimes I provide quite a lot of context. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I don't have it. And sometimes finding that context is exactly where you, dear reader, come in.

Research it. Ask your district. Attend a meeting. Pull the minutes. Bring another receipt. Correct me if I've gotten something wrong.

This page was never intended to tell you what to think.

And showing that staffing increased, spending changed, debt grew, or a particular expenditure occurred is not an "attack" on a school district. It is information.

If the explanation ultimately shows that a decision was completely reasonable, wonderful. The receipts can show that too.
I will continue asking questions. I will continue publishing public records. I will continue correcting myself publicly when I get something wrong.

And if that isn't the kind of page you want to follow, that's perfectly okay. There is a very convenient unfollow button.

With receipts, respect, and only two hands,

Lady Budgetdown