Old-style politics returns to schools
If you thought the bad old days of Nova Scotia politics were over, read on. The auditor general has exposed political interference in school construction that will be a burden for a generation.
And then our political buffoons tried to bury the news in a release titled “Fall 2016 Report Released”, with the news hidden in paras 3 and 5 (see below). It is a release destined to become a teaching tool in journalism classes.
Schools are a huge longterm investment. There are criteria for deciding where to put them. Politics is not one of them.
Clowns to the left, jokers to the right.
Fall 2016 Report Released Auditor General November 30, 2016 8:42 AM The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development does not have an established long-term capital planning process in place, Auditor General Michael Pickup said in his fall report released today, Nov. 30. "An overall casual approach to decision-making and the lack of defined processes from the department has led to inconsistent results," said Mr. Pickup. A new $21 million school has been approved for Eastern Passage despite no analysis supporting it. Evidence provided during the audit showed that the department had concerns about the impact a new high school will have on existing schools in the area. "I am very disappointed that the department has indicated it will not review this decision which has such a negative impact on schools in the surrounding areas," said Mr. Pickup. Four schools were approved by Executive Council despite not making the grade based on committee assessments. All four projects were requested by school boards, but were ranked behind other unapproved projects at the bureaucratic committee level. While cabinet makes the final decision, Nova Scotians should expect that limited resources are targeted to the areas of greatest need. "The province has to make a number of decisions regarding P3 schools overthe next couple of years," said Mr. Pickup. "Decisions needed to start being made as of June 2016. The department had not managed the process wellat the time of our audit work, as analysis was not timely or sufficient." Full release here: http://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20161130001
And now this … 