Web promotes more governmental transparency

The spending habits of local school districts are often suspect, especially in Ohio because the state’s funding formula requires districts to ask voters to approve levies year after year to keep textbooks and teachers in the classroom. Often voters are reluctant to approve higher taxes, complaining that districts produce too little evidence that they have spent funds well and effectively.  Whether suburban or urban, voters are increasingly reluctant to pay higher taxes for school spending. Well, last week Cincinnati Schools attempted to answer to voters needs to see better explanations of where their tax dollars are going. When the new fiscal year begins in July 08, Cincy schools will begin posting a “dashboard” on its web site that will reflect the district’s daily spending. I don’t yet understand all the ins and outs of how this works technically—whether it’s actual or estimated spending based on some algorithm and how data are collected so that the dashboard has some validity. That said, I think it is a smart move on Cincinnati’s part to use the technology to build greater trust among voters who have to shell out to pay the bills. To read more, here’s a link to the Cincinnati Enquirer story:  http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802260355.

Charlise March 4