Shine a light on school spending

By: Dothan Eagle editorial | Dothan Eagle
Published: January 22, 2009

We applaud state school board member Betty Peters of Dothan, who wants the public to know how its money is being spent.

This week, Peters urged local school districts to post some financial information, such as details from a check register, on their Web sites for easy access by members of the public.

“In many communities, public education is suffering from a lack of trust and support by the taxpayers and the voters,” Peters told the Eagle. “The schools often think the solution is to hire a public relations expert, yet the real answer is to be up front with the public.”

City and county school systems operate with tax funds, and state law requires that financial information for those systems be available to the public.

We see no reason why Peters’ suggestion should not be implemented. Taxpayers deserve a convenient way to review public spending so they can make informed decisions about education-targeted tax hike proposals.

The additional daylight should also make school boards and administrators think twice about potentially questionable expenses.