Katherine E. Ellison - " . . . but the slant, is anti-public education . . ."

[Shadowninja]

Dearest reader,

Apparently, examining public-school finances using public-school records may now be considered "anti-public education."

Katherine E. Ellison, PhD, a Hemlock Board of Education trustee who also serves as President of the Saginaw ISD Board of Education, recently had this to say about "a particular page":

"The numbers might come from publicly available documents, but the slant, is anti-public education and that hurts."

An interesting distinction.

She did not say the numbers were inaccurate.

She did not identify an incorrect figure.

She did not point to a document Lady B misrepresented.

Instead, the criticism appears to be that asking questions about those numbers is harmful to public education.

Lady B disagrees with that premise.

Supporting public education and scrutinizing how public money is spent are not mutually exclusive. In fact, one might argue they belong together.

Hemlock taxpayers are being asked to consider another $17.75 MILLION in debt while still carrying existing long-term obligations.

Saginaw ISD taxpayers are being asked to renew a special education millage while Lady B has been examining administrative growth, transfers between funds, audit findings, travel expenditures, and other financial decisions.

Dr. Ellison sits in a governance position at both organizations.

So perhaps the better question isn't whether Lady B is "anti-public education."

Perhaps the questions are:

Which number is wrong?
Which document is wrong?
Which calculation is wrong?

And if none of them are wrong, why is showing taxpayers the numbers harmful to public education?

Lady B is quite fond of public education.

She is also quite fond of public accountability.

Fortunately, those two things can occupy the same ledger.

With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown

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