Today, let’s bestow this distinguished honor on another public servant (and give auxiliary membership to several of her colleagues).
Here are some excerpts from a Fox Newsreport about Linda Wilson, a manager in New York City’s Department of Education.
Linda Wilson, the regional manager for the NYC Department of Education’s Queens Students in Temporary Housing, took her two daughters on city-funded excursions while encouraging her colleagues to do the same with their families, according to the SCI report released this month. While some students were brought on these trips, investigators alleged that spots were taken up by the employees’ family members. DOE rules state that employees cannot bring family on trips even if the DOE is reimbursed. Wilson allegedly skirted the rules by “forging permission slips in the names of students,” the report said. …Workers have blamed Wilson for telling staff that they could bring family on these trips, with one employee telling the Post that Wilson instructed them “to lie to investigators.” “She said everyone should stick to the same story that we did not take our children on the trip,” the employee said.
Alas, there is no honor among thieves. Some of Ms. Wilson’s fellow bureaucrats apparently have confessed an exposed her scam.
I’ll close by making a broader point about the benefits of decentralization and federalism. I’m sure that there is both federal funding and state funding of New York City’s Department of Education.
What incentive is there for the bureaucracy to spend that money wisely (or, as we just learned, honestly)? One benefit of raising money locally and spending money locally is that there presumably will be more accountability. At the very least, it reduces the likelihood of me paying for nonsense (though my local government likes squandering money as well).
Dan Mitchell is co-founder of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and Chairman of the Board. He is an expert in international tax competition and supply-side tax policy.
