Re: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnowingNewport/message/550 and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnowingNewport/message/551

It should be noted in this conversation that 89% of the School Budget and
over 75% of the Municipal budget represents fixed cost. Out of the remaining
percentages, although not fixed, are mandated costs. The programming for
"America's Choice", for example, falls into this category.

What are you going to do for 100 hours? Imagine lots of bickering, lots of
boredom, and very little accomplishment. The average citizen barely has 1
hour per week to engage in this activity. By engaging in the ridciulous "line
by line process", which teaches nothing but the funny numbers that accounts
are referred to by, actually shuts out more folks than it invites in.

If you want to spend 100 hours on something that might ignite fires in the
bellies of voters, spend it on priorities. "What kind of schools do we want?"
"How attractive to teachers do we want to be?" "A Newport Public School
Education means what exactly?" "How does Newport better respond to No Child
Left Behind?" "Why aren't people using the same software?" These are the kinds
of topics that folks may feel comfortable spending 100 hours on.

Let me kill the myth now. Everyone thinks if they look at the budget long
enough, go through it with the finest comb available, there will be some great
"A-HA!!" moment and all our problems will be solved. No Virginia, there is
no Santa Claus. This will not happen this year or any other year. What will
happen under this scenario is we will setup ourselves for the biggest
disaster ever when unplanned for needs arise and we have disabled ourselves
with
regards to the 5.5% cap.

This year, the schools are extremely underfunded for 2 reasons. 1.) There
is no trust from either the general public or the City Council headed in the
direction of the School Department. I won't bore you with the laundry list
here. 2.) When the Council said "5% should be enough", the School chose,
through a total lack of leadership, to sit on its hands rather than face the
trust problem and address real issues. Every person on that Committee has to
know that under No Child Left Behind, 5% was not close to enough. The trust
problem prevented a rally. Sadly, some of those same people who sat pat would
like to go back to the Council and get rejected again without addressing the
"trust" issues. If you were not trustworthy enough, and/or effective, to
receive $155K, how do you suddenly become trustworthy enough, and/or effective,
to receive $900K?

A 100 hour discussion of priorities will fix these things. A 100 hour
discussion of line items leaves us exactly where we are.

Bobby