The JPS bondfest is in full swing. We just have to borrow another $65 million. It’s all for the children. Who can be against education? Don’t worry, JPS officials say, they screwed up before, but they’ll get it right this time. JPS School Board President Dr. Jean Hairston cited horror story after horror story last week on in a column published in the Clarion-Ledger. Unfortunately for the rest of us, they have not proved they can be trusted with our money.
JPS leaders discovered they could borrow $65 million when the same amount of debt rolled off the books this year. JPS did not have a complete list of projects but darned if they didn’t want to borrow that money.
The first list of projects was only $30 million – far short of the $65 million. After much backlash, JPS magically provided a list of projects equating to $65 million. However, MDE required repairs that only cost $16 million. JPS simply decided to max out the credit card and figure out what to purchase with it after the fact. Such thinking is what got JPS in trouble in the first place but then again, financial responsibility has never been associated with JPS.
Dr. Hairston and her friends are fond of saying the bond issue will not raise taxes. Unfortunately, they are hoping people forget their property taxes will be lowered by five mills if the bond issue fails.
Suppose Bo has $500 monthly car note he pays off in March. His monthly expenses fall $500. He buys that shiny SUV and finances it with a $500 per month car note in November. His monthly bills went up by $500. Using JPS math, his monthly expenses did not increase, reality be damned.
Think I’m being too hard on JPS? Check out the “professional service fees” paid out to the bond lawyers and advisors on this deal. The fees go straight to them and were estimated to be $1.1 million for this deal. Unfortunately for JPS, the Rankin County School District paid less than $900,000 a year ago for its $100 million bond issue.
Butler Snow only charged Rankin County $47,000 to serve as bond counsel. JPS “estimates” its fee to Butler Snow to be $220,000 for the same services. Rankin County paid Government Consultants $52,000 to act as its financial advisor. Guess what the estimate is for JPS. $207,500. Other than race, what is so special about JPS? Is this a bond issue or a slush fund?
JPS has a history of getting fleeced on bond deals. JPS refinanced its 2008 bond issue two years ago. The bond fees were “only” $538,146 in 2008 yet jumped to $1.2 million in the 2016 refinancing of $118 million. The increase in fees, nearly $750,000, was more than last year’s maintenance budget of $500,00 for JPS*. How many school books for schoolchildren could have been purchased for that $750,00? How many bathrooms could have been fixed? Even the Siemen’s deal had much lower fees: $640,000 for a $90 million issue, a bargain in comparison. The Jackson Convention Center refinanced $65 million of bonds in 2013 for fees of only $381,000. It is thus easy to believe Dr. Hairston when she said JPS was not focused on saving money in this bond deal at a press conference. No wonder JPS refused to provide a Clarion-Ledger reporter with a list of the “estimated” bond fees.
JPS receives more property tax revenue than ever as it increased from $79 million in 2007 to $95.4 million in 2017. Meanwhile the student population declined during the same time frame from 31,191 to 26,206 students.
There is also no proof that JPS has managed to get its financial house in order. Only 40 percent of JPS employees are teachers. Better-rated school district usually employ a workforce that is 50 percent teachers. JPS is top-heavy yet no move has been made to get rid of the suits. There are only 97 students for every JPS administrator. Meanwhile there are 246 students for every administrator at larger Desoto County School District and 183 students for every administrator in Rankin County. Starting to see why the bond supporters rarely mention actual numbers while screaming “it’s for the children?”
Even Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said he would like to see teachers make up 60% of the JPS workforce. JPS somehow missed his memo yet wants you to give it more money. What was said about Louis XVII learning nothing while forgetting everything?
There are no such thing as bad soldiers, just bad leaders. Make no mistake, Jackson schoolchildren need help and too many schools are in bad shape. Unfortunately, Jackson’s children have suffered bad leaders for far too long. The people leading JPS are not bad fellows when they stick to education, but they are in over their heads when it comes to the business of running a public school district. Such financial illiteracy is what got JPS in trouble in the first place.
Rankin County voters rejected a pork-filled school bond issue and approved a better one. Jackson voters should do the same, ignore the horror stories, and tell JPS next week to go back to the drawing board and return with something we can support before it tries to raise our taxes.
*Ms. Sharolyn Miller said that in a reply to Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote at a City Council meeting.
63 comments:
Can you imagine how gidddy a person(s) would become after falling into $65,000,000.00 USD with little or no oversight?
Kingfish, you've fought the good fight appealing to common sense and numbers. The emotional argument of "save the children", however, will be heard louder by those who wish to remain uninformed.
Of course JPS teachers and staff are behind this - likely under the false hope they too will receive a pay increase the administration did under the last bond issued.
More Tom Head:
You’d have less to worry about re: Jackson politics in general if you relied less on dubious sources like Jackson Jambalaya and more on mainstream journalism.
~~~~~
... there is not enough time to prepare and vote on a narrower referendum that provides for the specific mandated MDE audit changes, ...
THEN there this totally made up unsubstantiated BS:
... you have no basis to say the other $49.5 million “has nothing to do with the audit requirements.” Many of the audit requirements were of a more general character, and could be affected by more general infrastructure spending; the fact that the majority of the expenditures are not tethered to *specific* line items does not mean they’re not relevant to the MDE audit.
AND finally:
You’re making the same mistake Kingfish does: Getting too worked up and missing the details. Slow down and read.
Come on you cheap-skates, it's for the children. Dig a little deeper; chase those moths out of your wallets; forgo that new car and spend it on the children.
Besides, the JPS brass need new luxury cars, new imported furniture and artwork, and a fatter expense account for those impotent "lunch meetings" and "dinner meetings" at the CCJ, not to mention those overseas bank accounts need feeding.
I'm sure this will bring out the "R" word, but it seems that local bond issues should be voted on by actual local property owners who are ACTUALLY paying the proposed taxes. Why should renters be allowed to vote considering that they don't have to pay any property taxes and can move to another district? Just seems fair.
When the bond measure fails Kenneth Stokes will have punked the Lumumba political machine. Winning just 40% of the vote? Very doable.
I will vote "YES" for the bond issue as soon as my doorbell rings as promised by JPS and the Mayor. Still waiting....
@2:54 pm. That would leave about 600 of you voting.
Vote the damn thing down. Maybe by November they can come up with a legitimate bond issue to vote on.
Property owners that lease should have prepared a document for their tenants warning them that their rent would increase each month to offset the increased taxes. That will help the renters to foot this bond bill.
Just to be clear, many if not most (Republican as well as Democrat) local politicians have played this little shell game where they bring on new debt when old debt is expiring and the proudly proclaim at election time, "I didn't never vote to raise anybody's taxes." And, all the fools believed.
Again, Kingfish, do you actually care about educating black children? Do you mentor in the schools?
Go to minute 19:00 and get your popcorn. See how the bond issue is being debated in Natchez. Board Member West is YouTube star in the making.
https://vimeo.com/226391282
Tom Head is the racist one. He believes black folks are too ignorant to think for themselves and so he has to coddle them and show them the "way."
It will pass easily. The problem is that everybody with kids in the system will show up and vote. And turnout will be low amount those that don’t support or don’t care.
The black children of Jackson are NOT getting educated by JPS.That is the entire point here.
All you naysayers will be as mad as the Tweeter in Cheif is about his media coverage.
“Mentor in the schools”? The very fact that there is such a thing needed is proof that the kids they’re trying to shove, drag, nudge through the system just...are not very good material to work with. When most of us KF readers were growing up, schools did their jobs, and outside volunteer help was not needed—-except for room mothers to bring cupcakes. Now they need people to come in and help kids with basic stuff their teachers can’t teach, or that they are too unmotivated to learn?
I happened to be visiting the zoo on the day there was some JPS back-to-school event or other, and the crowd was a sight to behold. The cacophony of terrible grammar was appalling. Not sure where a “mentor” would even begin.
3:46, Are you suggesting that JPS DOES care about educating black children?
Are these G. O. bonds with the full faith and credit of the City backing them?
This school board is different from past school boards. They are smart and committed to doing what's best for the students. It's hard to turn an aircraft carrier quickly, but slowly, they are turning it. They will hire an outstanding new superintendent and this bond issue will make sure they have the resources to upgrade the district's facilities. I know most of y'all live in the white flight suburbs (based on your comments), so your opposition to the bond issue is irrelevant. Those of you who live in Jackson, visit the schools in your neighborhood and see what condition they are in. Bailey is an A-rated school, yet a whole wing of the school is unusable. The stadium behind the school has been closed after part of the stands collapsed. Many JPS teams use that field. I trust the school board to make the central office more efficient. They need the resources to improve our schools.
MDE "audits" are pure garbage. Feds need to get involved. There must be objective/independent audits looking to where every line-time penny goes. Enter, Shad White, super-sleuth? Time will tell. Then turn it over to Mike Hurst. Bogus numbers reported by MDE in every district with the supervisors clinging to dear life that no one finds out.
5:03, you're wrong. I am a Jackson tax payer. I pay truly exorbitant property taxes and absolutely astronomical car tags, and for this I get F-rated schools and dilapidated, neglected infrastructure.
It's not a lack of money. It's incompetence, or corruption, or both.
JPS has been bringing in record revenue while student numbers are continually dropping. They should have plenty of money IF they would manage it, but they won't. Too easy to blow right through it and shake us down for more.
You're right that the schools are in pathetic shape, but again, this is NOT due to lack of money. This is due to money being squandered on everything and anything (consultants, bond fees, administration...) OTHER than the classroom.
99.6% of the JPS budget is spent on things other than infrastructure maintenance. Nearly 100%! And less than half is spent in the classroom! That is a crime!! Why do you imagine this time will be any different? JPS administration will blow the money on themselves and their cronies, just like they always do. Kids will get screwed, just like they always do.
I'm voting no. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.
@ 5:03
I'm voting NO tomorrow and I'm encouraging anyone else with any common sense to do the same!!! I do live in NE Jackson and my children go to a school much more diverse than the JPS school district. Your being critical of the people in the burbs and yet there schools are much more diverse as well that. Your $hitty district. Your either unaware of most private schools demographics as well as the suburban schools demographics. Seriously, your being critical based on there race and your the parent sending kids to a 99% one color school district. It's too funny!!!
JPS parent:
New school board--higher bond fees than previous issues and bond issues in other districts.
JPS board president "we are not interested in saving money"
you comments please
Thank you
(when is this new superintendent coming aboard)
Paranoid Head:
If the anti-school crowd can pull in even 40% to vote against JPS funding, they’ll be able to sabotage the district’s attempt to comply with the MDE audit and effectively cancel our accreditation. That’s why some of the local right-wing blogs have made fighting the bond issue their main focus right now: It’s the best chance they’ve had in years to kill JPS.
So, what's the problemo?
I have 19 years left on my 30 year home mortgage and pay $1019 per month. We've already refinanced the original loan of $114,000 four times and only owe $136,000 now.
I got a note from the bank telling me I could reduce my payment by $116 per month if I would take advantage of the new, lower rate so I jumped on it! $116 a month in savings will be a blessing and it's like free money.
I'm cool with my new note of $903 for 30 more years. My banker is my friend.
why doesn't jps show us what they did with the last time they got bond money? they don't want us to know! yes, supporters will say that was the old administration, but the new folks haven't made any corrections of the past administration that make a true difference. bad financial and business decisions, now and then. if it passes, more money will be wasted. come on Phil, you must recant and take over if the bill passes. dont waste our money on a helpless cause. this administration has no vision, financial intelligence, or personal drive to make the tough decisions to make jps succeed.
Good Lord...what idiot would vote yes. Look at the numbers. Dealing with children here.
7:15, this is a joke or you work for jps! your banker friend must also be a financialconsultant for jps. let's see? pay 325k or 134k? you picked the larger. do any supporters think this is a wise financial decision? not i
7:15, this is a joke or you work for jps! your banker friend must also be a financialconsultant for jps. let's see? pay 325k or 134k? you picked the larger. do any supporters think this is a wise financial decision? not i
Vote NO tomorrow. This is a ripoff.
You can always count on Butler Snow and Leroy "Barbour" to come through in a crunch. NO FEE is too great. Perhaps we would be better off to take the bond money to fund and move the Zoo. We would get a better return on our investment.
By this time tomorrow everyone will know that no one listens to Kenny Stokes and his buddies on here
It’s a perfect setup. The bond issue will pass easily. White property owners in Jackson pay virtually all the costs of “educating” African- American students in Jackson. And receive nothing in return.
You got 65Ml and couldn't fix bathrooms at Newal and Hughes fields, why should we trust you to fix the tennis courts or baseball pitch or any other schools baseball or band program?
Yes Perkn, 7:15 is joking. Context clues and common sense are amiss in JPS education.
@ 7:13
JPS did this by themselves. They are race baiters and turned down a generous offer from Barksdale of paying 100k towards new superintendent candidate... however the easier board and all black school turned him down so whitey wouldn't interfere with there plans. So they hired that half minded slack a$$ Cedric gray... remember the pervert with the gay bow tie. Yes you did this all on your own and play the race card... suck my a$$.. don't knock on my door in belhaven again.
Tom Head,
Your a total dummy... seriously, race baiter white guilt carrying airbag. Waste your time on Jackson jambalaya? WTF are you doing here in that case... you mean a reliable source like the Jackson free press? I hand it out to homeless people to wipe there a$$ with.. or do you mean fake a$$ news like Huffington post or failing Washington post or CNN.. I mean damn... your a interesting study if those are your sources. Way to approach things from all angles. You libtard clueless weak minded fool.
People who don't understand numbers are usually the ones who say ignore the numbers. Such is a learned idiot such as Tom Head. Notice how he uses all the code words: right-wing, etc. He doesn't debate the actual points, he just engages in histrionics. We want to "kill" JPS. Yeah, right. What Mr. Head doesn't like is someone is actually trying to hold JPS accountable while he tries to protect corruption and malfeasance that has existed for a long time in the Jackson public school system.
I guess Kenneth Stokes, David Archie, Tony Yarber, Eyes Wide Shut, and a bevy of other black community activists are all right-wing bloggers too. Its a bit of a surprise he didn't call them Uniform Tangos. It would be fitting for someone so learned.
Tom Head is an absolute racist as is Donna ladd... my gosh, look at how they speak about minorities... they basically think whites are supreme and blacks can't think for themselves. It's sickening. They don't believe all men are created equal and they only see color not individuals. It's a bad mentality to have.
I've applied for a certain type of position in JPS about 10 times. I was interviewed the first time I applied, and never since then (I'm white). I know of a few of the people that have beat me out for the jobs, and I was more qualified.
VOTE NO
I will give Tom and Donna $1K each to teach a full year at somewhere like Lanier or Wingfield.
Sadly they think Murrah and Casey are like the rest of JPS. Why they can't figure out why Murrah has a wait list unlike the other JPS high schools I will never know.
Why can't we all debate without so much hate?
Vote yes.
Invest in children’s futures.
Quit being so damn negative.
False Narrative Head:
I think we can win this thing, but I also think it’s going to be a lot closer than folks have been projecting; social media is playing a larger role in Wards 1 and 7 than I’d anticipated, where Kingfish is telling people the bond will raise their property taxes (it won’t; it just won’t *lower* them, and saying that’s the same thing is like saying Congress raises the income tax every year by not repealing it). It’s incredible, and by incredible I mean weird and disturbing. We’re living in an era of debatable facts, especially when race is involved.
@5:09 AM Bless your heart.
I know this is a petty matter but it was stated on the radio that Tray Hairston, a bond lawyer at Butler Snow, is a relative of the School Board President Jeanne Hairston. As JJ has reported, Butler Snow, whose offices are in Ridgeland, is charging an exorbitant fee for a relatively simple transaction. There are several Jackson based firms who could have performed the work including Watkins and Eager, Jim Young, Brunini, and Jones Walker. What happened?
That's somewhat racist of him. This website has a large black readership. Funny how he's calling me racist on this issue but the black talk show hosts have been asking me to come to their shows and churches to talk about this.
Not just Jackson firms but plenty of firms. Get the best deal.
I'm voting "yes" only to make you mad, Kingfish.
Tray Hairston is not related to Jeanne Hairston.
The Governor Phil didn't have the balls to take over the Jackson Public School District! He should have done it when the State Board of Education declared an emergency existed! Never had, never will!
Did Kenneth I. Stokes ever say whether or not he will vote for or against the bond issue? I know he was demanded promises from the school board that everything on the list be completed but I never heard whether or not he got his promise. I need to know so I know how I (and the rest of us KISasses) will know how to vote.
The state whiffed at being responsible and taking over jps.
Reap what you sow.
The district needs funds to rebuild and improve their physical product.
The real answer lies well outside this debate.
Moving jps students with the Rankin and Madison schools is the long term solution.
Together we can learn and adapt.
Separated we have....well...this segregated hate filled finger pointing cesspool.....
Does Ashby Foote know there is q bond issue vote today? The guy is truly worthlesss!!! I give stokes credit for informing his ward of the shady deal of the bond issue. Foote just drives around with his head up his arse meanwhile his ward is paying the bills. You can't make this stuff up
Who will be counting the votes?
I don't think Ray Charles is available.
Well Ashby is a money manager by trade and I'm sure that he has dealt with a lot of bond attorneys all during his career. I'm sure that he has recommended
bond attorneys to his clients, such as the State Treasury and others!
Get over yourself Melvin. You're not remotely that important.
How in the world does Jackson have 81 voting precincts and the methodology in polling this population is recorded on paper? That's efficient right? Wow, talk about the opportunity for voter fraud.
Also, out of 169k people who claim Jackson as their home, an average of 34k people voted in the last democratic primary. How many of those people own their own home in Jackson? This tax burden is going to fall on the land owner right? Good call. We know our landlords will pass this right down don't we? Lets raise rent even higher Jackson!
Regardless, I am certain its going to pass with flying colors.
Spoken like a true socialist 7:47am....everyone equal....equally miserable. Tear down the successful to make the non-successful not feel as bad. Of course, I am sure your kids go to a private school. No way in hell they attend a Madison or Rankin public school, or you wouldn't be spouting such foolishness.
So... voted (against) the bond - not because I don't want student to learn and have a good environment but because the $ going to JPS are clearly hijacked from student services. Those that rob from needy kids will get payback. I cannot believe I dropped my vote in a basically unsecured box with 3 "poll workers" who clearly had an agenda. I wish the masses would realize that the JPS crew does not care about them, just about lining their pockets. So sad - so many kids being underserved when the money is there - just being used by admins to play golf, eat dinner, and travel. Check the JPS expense reports. It is a hot mess.
Even the JPS School Board can't use local attornies. The City has decided not to use local companies too. This is really bad practice.
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