A look at funding the Parthenon Group's $1.56 million suggestions

So, uh, how ‘bout those “smart spending” recommendations the Parthenon Group made last night to the Knox County School System????

Heh. Hahahahahaha. Consultants.

Now, I’m not going to get into it. I mean for the most part, the suggestions don’t appear to be too popular with the community (as of right now anyway), so that means you should probably expect the school board to sign off on them sometime after the August elections (provided there’s enough votes by then).

If you’re interested in talking about last night’s school board discussion or the Parthenon Group recommendations then click right smack here for a non-Paywall Paper report by the hippie.

In the meantime, I just want to clear up some questions about how and who paid the organization for its wisdom.

I suppose most folks who care know that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation financed a great chunk of the plan through a $1.2 million “smart spending” grant. (You can’t make up this stuff.)

However, the school system needed to put up some $360,000 in folding paper, too.

So, where did the kind school folks who are always claiming they are in the poor house get the money?

Well, at least half - $180K – came from tax payer dollars. The other half came from the Great Schools Partnership.

So, how is the GSP funded?

Well, glad you asked. If you click right smack here, you’ll find its Annual Report for the current year. (Scroll to page 15 for the numbers.)

Almost 51 percent of the $5.3 million revenue side of the budget comes from taxpayer dollars. The county puts up $2.6 million and the city kicks in $100K in coin. The rest comes from “private donors.”

There ya go. Now go out and play. It's a nice day.