My family and I recently moved from Salt Lake City, where we lived in the downtown area for nine years. Someday we hope to come back. With this in mind, I recently read a news article about the audit conducted on schools overcharging fees for participation in sport or cheer activities and clubs.
The article indicates that $71 million in fees were collected by schools in one year. That number leaves me wondering why we get hit every year with demands from schools and teachers that there be more funding for education.
Where is this $71 million going? What is it being used for? And, with that kind of money coming in, why do schools keep complaining that there is not enough? From my perspective, it appears that there is some fraud or wasteful spending going on in the education system.
Before you keep returning each year demanding more from government or taxpayers, the Utah Board of Education should clean house first and do some of the same re-prioritizing that you ask others to do each time you ask for more money.
Derek Schwebach
Mesa, Arizona