I am sure that fans of the Locker Room have read the excellent Carolina Journal story about Jeff Moss, the superintendent of Lee County Schools who does not mind that teachers use their students to lobby the state legislature for more moola.
If you ask me, Moss and Sharon Spence, the public information officer for Lee County Schools, are birds of a feather.
A few weeks ago, I asked Ms. Spence to indicate how many total jobs the district will lose as a result of the loss of temporary federal funds. In an email response, she indicated that “Lee County lost 126 total positions due to the budget reductions of the State and Federal Stimulus dollars.”
I followed up with Ms. Spence to get a breakdown of jobs by funding category. After five (5) direct email requests, she responded, “The information provided previously is all the information available.” I don’t buy it. According to a NC Department of Public Instruction analysis, Lee County Schools will lose $5.8 million in temporary federal stimulus funds this year. If the district cannot determine how they allocated these funds last year, then the state budget is the least of their worries.
I suspect that the district used temporary federal dollars to fund a number of the 126 jobs to be eliminated but would rather place the entire blame on state lawmakers. After all, Lee County teachers did not appear to have plans to require their students to write a letter to President Obama.
