Update On Waste, Fraud, And Abuse: Kansas City To Close Half Its Schools

My column from yesterday's The Fiscal Times noted that state and local governments around the country, which because of balanced budget requirements and dramatically falling revenues are facing some very tough times, are being forced to make difficult decisions.

But this story in yesterday's The New York Times about Kansas City deciding to close half its public schools and reduce the payroll by around 20 percent makes the decisions by other states to close rest stops along some highways appear to be insignificant.

The Times' story indicates that the schools and school board in Kansas City have been in terrible shape for years and, therefore, that this decision was almost inevitable.  Still, the precipitating event was was the projected $50 million deficit (out of a total budget of $300 million) in the midst of the economic downturn and the prospect that it wasn't going to get any better any time soon.

Given that the number of students in the KC schools had fallen by 50 percent, closing half the schools might in some sense qualify as eliminating waste, and the failure of the school board to act before now might be considered fraud and abuse. 

Still, closing half of all schools at the same time shows either that the definition of waste, fraud, and abuse might need to be expanded, or that the budget changes that are already happening and will keep occurring for a while are going to go way beyond what that phrase traditionally has implied.