Wasting Money at Irvine Unified

* How did the Irvine Unified School District arrive at its present budgetary state?

The school board got the district there by initiating and perpetuating student programs and hiring specialist teachers, disregarding the need to plan and budget.

No program monitoring was possible, because there was no firm, fiscal baseline to use as a guide.

Belatedly, several ideas for bringing the school budget in line are being identified. But these plans are on hold until, we may assume, Measure B passes: Then there will be no need to put them in place.

The $95-per-parcel levy provided to the school district by passage of Measure B will furnish the school board--the same local government agency that got us to where we are--with more money with which to be recklessly unaccountable.

To quote P.J. O’Rourke, “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”

I believe we are being taxed enough. First let the school district get its house in order and be innovative in budgeting and controlling its resources to adequately fund its required-by-law and its nice-to-have programs.

I urge a no vote on Irvine’s Measure B.

ED BRISICK

Irvine