Roslyn lived large on your dime

Newsday.com ^ | March 3, 2005 | THERESA VARGAS AND EDEN LAIKIN

[murphE]

Top Roslyn school officials and their friends and family siphoned off more than $11 million of district money in an elaborate scheme involving far more people and far more extravagant spending than had been suspected, a state report has found.

[murphE]

The 64-page report blames everyone from the key administrators who blatantly misappropriated millions to the school board members and business officials who should have been watching, but weren't. Roslyn seemed gripped by a "culture of corruption," said State Sen. Michael Balboni (R-East Williston), who has sponsored legislation to strengthen oversight of school district finances.

"This is New York State's Enron," he said.

[Glenn]

Tassone's longtime roommate, Stephen Signorelli

And he's gay?

[Grendel9]

An extreme example of why it's important to KNOW who
is running for the local school boards.

[thegreatbeast]

This is just gross piggishness.

[FreePaul]

Top Roslyn school officials and their friends and family siphoned off more than $11 million of district money...

They "siphoned off" at least one hundred percent of the district's money on varioius things including a scheme called "education." The money they wasted on themselves didn't make any difference since spending it on "education" doesn't seem to accomplish anything. I guess that taxpayers should be irritated that these people were living high on public money but they don't seem to be concerned that the "educators" are doing the same thing.

[murphE]

Maybe this will present an opportunity to push for vouchers.

[Fenris6]

We need to spend more on education because we can't account for the money we're spending on education. Ack.

[BIGZ]

And where is Roslyn?

[murphE]

A very wealthy district on Long Island, NY. Average property taxes (mainly school taxes) are probably around $10,000/per year, per home, conservatively.

[shadeaud]

Roslyn does have some good bagel shops however.

[GraceCoolidge]

Before people get the wrong idea, however, it should be pointed out that real estate taxes are obscenely high throughout Long Island. In other parts of the country, a $10K property tax bill would entail living in unbelievable luxury. On Long Island, what I would call modest family homes (sort of 1960s to 1980s suburban houses) easily come with a $5000 to $6000 tax bill. For that money, the schools ought to be a lot better than they are. Of course, now that we know where the money is going, that explains some of it.

[BIGZ]

Grassy Ass, a little Mex. lingo.

[NYCRebublican]

I am assuming they were Democrats? I have yet to see a mention of their political persuasion in any article or news story. If they were Republicans it would be plastered everywhere.

[rollo tomasi]

No, an extreme example of an infallible system that bleeds the taxpayer dry. Sure the people will get punished but the system will live on and the bureaucrats fortunate enough to get elected will be free to pillage again (And lessons learned on avoiding getting caught).

[cyborg]

$10,000 isn't saying much on LI. I live in a middle/lower class area and pay $7000.

[cyborg]

And good chinese food too!

[Area51]

I found it quite hillarious to turn on the tube and see a New Ad where all these teachers in a Fereration of Teachers ad, claiming they are underfunded, not respected etc. The ad calls for the same kind of attention a new Pro Ball Field gets.


Then this scam hits the airways. Yeah baby you bet. Send the schools more money in taxes for some lazy bastard to make his retirement home payment.

[farmer18th]

If we could see the line item detail for most school district budgets throughout the country, we would see gross waste, if not extravagant waste.

Think about a state like California (if you can stand it), I don't remember what the average funding per student is now, but let's assume it's at least $8500. If the average Freeper were given 100 children to educate and $850,000, do you think he could do a better job than the system?

[murphE]

I may be greatly underestimating the amount of tax they pay. I live on Long Island in a moderate middle class area and we pay $5000 to $6000, like you said. I assume they pay much more than that.