CA, of all places, builds $578M school - personally I would have drawn the line at the talking benches

Money quote (literally):
"New buildings are nice, but when they're run by the same people who've given us a 50 percent dropout rate, they're a big waste of taxpayer money," said Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution who sits on the California Board of Education.

LA unveils $578M school, costliest in the nation

At RFK, the features include fine art murals and a marble memorial depicting the complex's namesake, a manicured public park, a state-of-the-art swimming pool and preservation of pieces of the original hotel.

Not to mention "an ornate auditorium suitable for hosting the Oscars, and a faculty dining room that the superintendent says is 'better than most restaurants.'" 

The pricey schools have come during a sensitive period for the nation's second-largest school system: Nearly 3,000 teachers have been laid off over the past two years, the academic year and programs have been slashed. The district also faces a $640 million shortfall and some schools persistently rank among the nation's lowest performing.

Shhhhh, talking about over-spending, cash-strapped, union-run schools wasting even more taxpayer money is a "sensitive" issue!

The extravagance has led some to wonder where the line should be drawn and whether more money should be spent on teachers.

 Yeah, maybe it would have been better if they had focused on improving education for children.

donations should have been sought to fund the RFK project's talking benches commemorating the site's history

I think I would have drawn the line at the talking benches ...

skyrocketing material and land prices, rigorous seismic codes and unionized labor.

WHAT? Regulations and unions have driven up costs?!  NO WAY!

Read more at news.yahoo.com

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