Rochester - Apparently, Publishing Public Numbers Is Now an Attack on Teachers

[Shadowninja]

LADY BUDGETDOWN'S SOCIETY PAPERS

Apparently, Publishing Public Numbers Is Now an Attack on Teachers

Dearest Readers,

Lady Budgetdown seems to have caused quite the commotion with the anonymous page RCS Connections.

That page has published an impressively lengthy rebuttal to my Rochester Community Schools compensation graphic.

There is just one tiny problem.

They are rebutting claims I never made.

Did Lady Budgetdown say teachers are overpaid?

No.

Did she say benefits are take-home pay?

No.

Did she claim retirement contributions secretly go into employees' pockets?

No.

Did she say educators are "the problem"?

Not once.

What did the graphic actually say?

"A $150,000 salary does not necessarily cost taxpayers $150,000."

Scandalous, I know. 🫢

Apparently acknowledging that salary + benefits + retirement contributions + other employer costs = total compensation is now controversial.

That isn't an attack on teachers.

That's accounting.

But my favorite part was the lecture about "context."

The anonymous authors claimed Rochester has more than 2,000 employees and an annual budget exceeding $300 million.

RCS itself currently says:

1,867 staff.
Nearly 15,000 students.
$233 million operating budget.

Oops.

Perhaps before accusing Lady Budgetdown of publishing numbers without context, one should make certain one's own numbers are correct.

And then came this gem:

"Transparency is showing all of the columns."

Dear anonymous authors...

I AGREE.

Let's show them.

Let's examine salaries.

Let's examine benefits.

Let's examine retirement costs.

Let's examine staffing.

Let's examine enrollment.

Let's examine administration.

Let's examine classroom spending.

Let's examine revenues.

Let's examine expenditures.

Let's examine fund balance.

And yes, let's examine Rochester's recent projected operating deficits.

All. The. Columns.

Because transparency doesn't mean publishing only the numbers that support your preferred narrative.

And accountability doesn't become an "attack on teachers" simply because someone asks where taxpayer dollars are going.

Teachers aren't the enemy.

Administrators aren't automatically the enemy.

Candidates aren't the enemy.

And neither are spreadsheets.

If you believe a number is wrong, show the correct number and cite the source.

If you believe Rochester compares favorably with another district, bring the comparison.

If you believe staffing trends tell a different story, bring the staffing data.

Lady Budgetdown would be delighted to read it.

But inventing an argument I never made, wrapping it in emotional stories about hardworking educators, and then dragging unrelated school-board candidates into the discussion doesn't disprove a single number.

That's not "context."

That's changing the subject.

So yes, dear readers...

Bring the context.

Bring the comparisons.

Bring the contracts.

Bring the audits.

Bring every column you can find.

Just remember to bring the receipts. 🪶

Because Lady Budgetdown has hers.

— Lady Budgetdown

Society Spending Exposed

#LadyBudgetdown #FollowTheMoney #ShowTheReceipts #RochesterCommunitySchools #SchoolSpending #TaxpayerTransparency #EducationSpending #FactsMatter #Accountability #PublicMoneyPublicRecords #rcsconnections