Now here’s a good idea.
Frankly, from this far away, it’s difficult to tell whether the Overland Park officials are serious or not, but what they have suggested is that they want the public to be involved in charting the future course of the school district.
And not just any school district.
In discussion this week is the economic future of the state’s second largest school district, and the leaders of Shawnee Mission School District are looking to the community in general, to parents, students and to staff members to come up with the best ideas for cutting the district budget.
The leaders on the state’s second largest school district recognize that they need to cut.
In fact, they look to cut some $10 million from the next year’s school budget.
It remains to be seen what the outcome will be, but it is only fair to take these people at face value until they prove they are not sincere in their efforts.
They claim to see the need to cut back on spending, and let’s face it, it’s something that taxpayers are going to have to demand at every sector of government.
Of course it is easier to demand that at the local level, and to be fair, it is the local officials who seem to actually see the need to cut spending.
They have been closer to the public pulse throughout, but this it still a good place to begin.
Maybe if enough local officials, like those from the Shawnee Mission School District, are public about wanting to seek ways to cut spending, perhaps more of us will demand similar efforts from our state and even federal officials.
And if we don’t get it, perhaps American taxpayers can finally reach a point that they are ready to vote out of office those who fail to take this seriously.
Then we can vote in some people at the federal level who understand that we can’t just continue to tweak the current bureaucratic-republic system and play like we’re making changes.
— Chuck Smith