Posted by Tina
Most stories about how our stimulus money is being “spread around” reveal certain absurdites in terms of wisdom, economic recovery, or job creation but this one offers all three:
“DeKalb Schools Spending $382K On Hollywood Conference,” WSBTV
Channel 2 Action News has learned that nearly 200 DeKalb County school employees will be boarding flights to Los Angeles this week to attend an education conference that will cost taxpayers nearly $400,000. The money isn’t coming from local tax dollars but from federal dollars that came to the county as part of the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus package. ** Stimulus money from Washington is often discussed in terms of “shovel ready” construction projects that are supposed to create jobs for unemployed Americans. But the DeKalb County School System has decided to use stimulus money to attend a four-day conference sponsored by America’s Choice, which a schools spokesman calls “a great thing.”
Stimulus money spent for this purpose offers nothing in terms of economic recovery or job creation. In fact, even in terms of children getting value from a dollar spent, it is a complete waste during a time of economic shortage. Anyone want to debate the wisdom behind such a choice?